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from the creator
thank you
Hello reader of Isolated Zine. Hope you dig all this. I put a lot of time This zine wouldn’t be possible without into it and put off too many school the following: My family, Ryan Wade, projects and stuff that I should not Cody Johnson, Fairhope United Methodhave. After working with Maxwell ist, Margie Byrne, Anyone who helped inMartinez with It’s Your Choice Zine terview or review bands, Richie Peterson, out of California, I really liked the Cornerstone Festival, Maxwell Martinez whole idea and wanted to start a and It’s Your Choice Zine, Joshva Davis, zine of my own. I had an apparel Matt Barnum and West End, Andy Wells project with my good friend Cody and the Kling Thing House, every DIY vencalled Isolated Apparel but I wanted ue and person who throws house shows, to actually help out the hardcore all my friends in Canton, Akron, Cleveland, scene and turned it into a zine as Ashtabula, Columbus, and Barnesville, well. I did not think it would end Ohio, every band interviewed or featured up like this, with amazing labels in this issue, especially every photograsupporting and getting to interview pher letting me use their photos, anyone awesome bands. Check out the purchasing or reading this zine, and all Isolated Zine and Isolated Apparel the labels who advertised and help put facebook pages and buy a shirt if this out. Thank you. you’d like. They’re only like 8 bucks. I also do freelance graphic design for bands, labels, venues, etc. so find my facebook page for that too! If you want to ad‘Brian Barr | Graphic Design” If you vertise in Isolated have any feedback about this zine, Zine, I can sell you want to help with album or movie a half or full page reviews, or anything, email us at space for cheap; ISOLATEDYOUTH@YAHOO.COM around $5-$20 depending on how many is being printed. Contact me at IsolatedYouth@Yahoo.com
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Thanks to Joshva Davis for the front cover art!
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photo by: Face Fo rest
some of the nicest Hailing from Ashtabula, Ohio, Homewrecker are out their split dudes who are really involved in the scene. Check FFO: Integrity, Full A389. gh throu LP ing upcom their Of with The Love Below and Hell, Rot In Hell
IZ: How’s it going dude? Introduce yourself and what you play in Homewrecker, and of course, your favorite movie to cry to?
BARNUM: It’s going great man. My name is Matt Barnum, but everyone calls me Barnum. My grandparents own the famous Barnum and Bailey circus. I play guitar in Homewrecker, and if I had to cry to a movie right now, it would be a toss up between... Marley and Me, Toy Story 3 or Kazaam. IZ: So you just got off tour. Anything interesting happen? And tell us about how the A389 Bash went? BARNUM: This tour was amazing. By far our most successful tour. Turns out our van was illegal in multiple ways and we almost had it impounded in Kiowa, Oklahoma Luckily the cops let us go. I almost got a ticket by a cop for doing front rolls in front of the Alamo in San Antonio. Izzi (Our
drummer) made out with a blind red head for $20. The A389 Bash was amazing! Weekend Nachos, and Pulling Teeth (RIP </3) killed it. Every band played so well and everything went very smoothly. A+ show. IZ: How’d you first get hooked up with A389 Records?
BARNUM: 2 Summers ago, we stayed in Baltimore with a guy named Mitch. (Sacred Love, Brick) We showed him our newest demo and he was into it. He brought it to Dom (Owner of A389) and I guess he liked it! He hit us up and asked if we would like to put 2 of the songs off of the demo onto a split with The Love Below that would come out a couple months later. Later down the road Dom asked if we would like to join and release another record through A389. Obviously we took him up on that offer and began writing. IZ: Homewrecker has an LP coming out on A389
soon, titled ‘Worms & Dirt’. Tell us about that and how’s it sounding compared to your older material? BARNUM: Yes! It should be released Early April. It was recorded with Bill at Mars Studio (Integrity, Ringworm, Mushroomhead etc) in Mantua, OH. It features 7 new songs and 2 re-recorded songs off of our Internal Morgue release. This is definitely our best release, in our opinion. We think we have found our sound. It’s heavy and driving. A lot of blast parts and a lot of crusty parts mixed with some metal influence. We also recorded an acoustic cover of Super Bass by Nicki Minaj. IZ: The band’s from Ashtabula, Ohio. I hardly knew about the city until your venue ‘West End’ came about. Tell us about the scene there and how you feel about it.
BARNUM: As boring as this town is, I love it. The city life is fun to experience when on tour, but this town is smaller and surrounded by very scenic (for Ohio) spots. As for the scene, it has grown so much, it’s amazing. When it first started, it was maybe 7 other friends and myself. We were freshmen in Highschool. We started some bands and played house shows. Eventually more people got involved. We started having shows at community centers, bars, bowling alleys, pavilions, Anything. Eventually two friends and I opened a place called West End 2153 in December 2010. It’s been having a really good reaction with the scene and community. Currently, a lot more younger kids are starting to come out to shows, and I personally think that’s amazing. I wish I had a place to go to shows when I was 12-13 to see new bands. I hope that the kids continue to support the touring bands and
realize that there is more going on out there in the music world other than the shit* on the radio. *(I’ll admit, some songs are catchy though) IZ: What’s your opinion with how the country’s been lately? BARNUM: It’s 2012 man. People are still bitching about gays being allowed to marry. People are still racist. This whole world is fucked. In the words of a great band: People = Shit IZ: What hardcore / nonhardcore bands have you been jamming lately? BARNUM: I’ve been listening to Blink 182, Millencolin, Neutral Milk Hotel, New Found Glory, Nails, Coke Bust, Weekend Nachos, and Joyce Manor. (Go ahead and hate, everyone in the band gets so mad when it’s my turn to drive haha) IZ: How many people in the band skate? Do you
ever bring your board on tour? BARNUM: Myself and our other guitar player, Eli skate. We usually bring our boards and run off to skate every chance we get. This last tour we didn’t and we regretted it every time it was somewhat warm out. IZ: Thanks for your time dude! Any final words you’d like to throw out there? BARNUM: No problem, this was a fun interview! Check out these venues: West End, The Tower, Now That’s Class, Basement Transmissions(Erie, PA), The Lakeview House (Barnesville, OH) Check out these bands: Street Fight, City Cop, Masakari, Grin n Bear It, Vice (Ohio), Heartless, Ages, Ghost Breeder, Dweller, Light Years and any other local bands in the surrounding area! Sorry I’m an asshole and didn’t say every local band!
photo by: Drew Mistak
t h g i l y a d Daylight from Being the only non-hardcore band in the zine,that matures and music rock al omin phen plays PA , stown Doyle ns. Steve Jake by iew Interv e. releas improves with each
IZ: Hey man, how’s it going? Introduce yourself and what you play, as well as your favorite 80s slasher movie? TAYLOR: My name is Taylor and I play guitar and sing in Daylight. I’d have to say Sleep Away Camp is probably my favorite. IZ: So the new EP, “The Difference In Good And Bad Dreams” has been out for about a month and you released a music video for ‘Damp’. How was it like filming for a music video? TAYLOR: Well, our friend Dan Centrone did it for us, just for fun. He does a lot of cool videos (mostly hip hop), so we asked him to shoot one for us. We filmed in the woods near my house and in 2 separate abandoned houses. It was fun. Really awkward at some parts. But yeah, Dan’s shit is awesome and I encourage anyone to check it out. IZ: How’s the response been for the new EP so far, and are people still comparing you to Hot Water Music? I don’t see it, why do you think you get that? TAYLOR: The response has been pretty good, I think. We get compared to them less, but I still read reviews comparing us to them. I don’t see it either. At the start, I’m sure it was just because of the way I sang. I don’t really sing like that anymore, so I don’t really see the link. Oh well. IZ: I hear you’ve got a full length coming along. How’s the writing process going
so far, and any idea when it could be released? TAYLOR: Writing for the LP is really cool and almost scary at times. We all want to make it the best record ever, and we all kind of put a lot of pressure on ourselves, I guess. I’m sure it will be cool. I’d like it to come out within the year, but who knows. If not in 2012, then definitely early 2013. IZ: After 3 EPs and writing for a full length. How do you feel about your older material? Do you still play songs off the Sinking EP? TAYLOR: I am fairly vocal about my distaste for those songs. I only like one song (You’re Not My Father) and I still wish some of that song was different. The past few shows, we opted not to play anything off Sinking. I liked it and I hope to not play those songs any time soon.
‘The Difference of Bad Dreams’ - Out Good and Run For Cover Reconow through rds
photos by: Dan ielle Parsons
FFO: Nirvana, Ba la Composure, Base nce & ment IZ: You’re about to go on tour with More Than Life. How stoked are you for that? The band has toured the UK before, What’s it like touring over there compared to here?
band. I also liked Puff Daddy a lot when I was in elementary school. No Way Out was the first CD I ever bought with. My own money and I bumped that shit hard. I loved the curse words. I had a crush on Lil’ Kim.
TAYLOR: I have a feeling that tour will be a lot of fun. I haven’t met anyone in that band yet, but we have mutual friends, so that’s a plus. The UK isn’t THAT much different than to touring the US. I like it over there a lot.
IZ: I found a blog before where you and a friend reviewed some movies. What are some of your favorite films of all time?
IZ: Not that this has anything to do with Daylight, but you’re also in a hardcore band, Black Feathers. Can you talk about that some? TAYLOR: Hell yeah! Joe, Jake, and myself are in another band called Black Feathers. It’s just a “side project” I guess, but I wish we did more stuff because it’s a lot of fun and I think the songs are pretty cool. That band is fun as hell, though. IZ: What were some of your music influences growing up? TAYLOR: Well, I’ve always been really into bands like Bush and The Smashing Pumpkins. Sixteen Stone and Melloncollie were the first 2 records I ever owned and I listened to them so much. Weirdly enough, I wasn’t really into Nirvana until a couple years ago. My dad has always been into pretty cool music and Nirvana was one of his favorites. It never clicked for me, but when it did I couldn’t get enough. Perfect
TAYLOR: Jesus Christ, how would anyone ever find that?! That was pretty shortlived and more of a joke than a real thing. Although my friend Matt and I do love movies. I was going to make a top 5, but that’s too hard. Here are a few movies I really like: Wayne’s World 1+2, The Elephant Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Nacho Libre, Gremlins 1+2, Joe Dirt (DUH!), and shit like that. I like a lot of Horror movies and Drama movies too, but the Comedies come to mind right now. IZ: Have you still been designing artwork for bands? How’s that going? TAYLOR: I do it here and there. I enjoy drawing a lot, but I don’t do as much design work as I’d like to. IZ: Thank you for your time and letting me interview you. Any final words you’d like to say? TAYLOR: Thanks dawg. I guess you really did your research before the interview. Props.
d n d e k n e e e k e e W W d n e k e e W s o s o h c h a c a N N s o h c a N
photos by: Reid Haithcock
os is still After being around for 8 years, Weekend Nach ore / powerworking hard playing great aggressive hardccall it. violence / grindcore / whatever you want to
IZ: Thanks for taking the time to do this. Introduce yourself, what you do in Weekend Nachos, and tell us what your favorite burger joint is? WN: Not a problem, man, thank you for even giving a shit enough to ask me anything at all! I’m Ponderosa, I do vocals in Weekend Nachos. As far as burgers are concerned, I eat at too many of those places to decide at this point. Initially I was on a quest to find the greatest burger ever but during that 28 year search, I ended up with way too much data and now I don’t have enough people on my staff to sort it all out. I’m just gonna say White Castle because it really is the greatest restaurant on the planet. IZ: I’ve noticed that Nachos is a band that never stops working. If you guys aren’t touring, you’re working on new music. This definitely holds true with 2012, you guys have a split with Lack of Interest and two new 7”s you’re working on for this year. Can you tell us a little about these releases and how the split came about? WN: Well, in 2008 I was talking to Bob from Deep Six/ Lack of Interest and the idea of him releasing our next full-length (Unforgivable)
came up and we both decided it was a great plan. Over the years, we’ve now done 2 full-lengths with Deep Six and played a lot of shows with Lack of Interest out in California and eventually they just hit us up about doing a split. I’m not too keen on split 7”s so I suggested a split LP and they were into it because they had enough material recorded for it. Now both sides of the split have been recorded and it should be coming out soon! I think it’ll be cool. As for the other 2 7”s...they’re more like singles, they’re actually for two specific singles club series that are being done by 2 of our friend’s labels. I have been advised not to disclose any more information about those projects at this time. IZ: One thing that really surprised a lot of people about your last release, Worthless, was the guest spot from Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, can you tell us how you got him involved for the song ‘Jock Powerviolence?’ WN: We knew a lot of people would either think that was crazy or funny, but really he’s just a friend of ours. Fall Out Boy is from Chicago and they just happened to be very very successful with that band, haha. None of those guys are famous to us,
they’re just people we know. A ridiculously talented group of people, though. Patrick Stump’s solo stuff in a live setting is an unbelievable experience. We’re honored to have him on our album. IZ: Even though you have three releases planned for this year you still keep on touring. Can you tell us about some of the upcoming plans you have for tour this year? WN: We actually don’t tour THAT much...we are just smart about it. We cover the specific areas we need to in order to make everybody happy. We try to cover the entire U.S. at least once a year, and we usually split them up into two tours that each last for about 2 1/2 weeks. We just got back from an East Coast tour a few weeks ago, and as for the rest of 2012...yes, we will definitely be very busy with touring. We have a West Coast tour coming up in April with DEAD IN THE DIRT from Atlanta, GA. Then we’ll be going back to the UK and Europe for a 3rd time in July. That should be great! As for the fall season...we are trying to maybe go to Australia or Japan, but that may or may not happen. We might not be able to afford it or find anybody to book us there, haha. We’ll just see.
FFO: Hatred Surg e, Bust, Despise You Coke IZ: How different is it for you guys playing the more “punk” basement and house shows than the really put more “put together” venues while out on tour? Which environment do you enjoy playing in more? WN: We are a band that can play in either type of venue, but I think for the most part we enjoy basements more. They are certainly not as comfortable, which can get stressful on tour, but hey, that’s the punk rock lifestyle, haha. We chose it, now we have to live with it til the bitter end. The shows for us are usually much more fun in a basement because we usually don’t draw more than 75-100 people, which is not enough people for even a small club. Sometimes we can bring out more than that, but I’d say on average our crowd is around that size. IZ: Can you tell us how you personally feel about the direction that society has taken recently? I know that lyrically this issue comes up quite often for Nachos. WN: Well, I would refrain from using the word “recently” because I think society has always been this way. But you would be right in saying
that it probably gets worse over time instead of better. I don’t know, man. I think it depends on the individual. Society is fucked but that’s just how I feel...if you asked someone with a lot of close friends that loved going out to bars and parties how they felt about society, they might answer differently. That’s the difference though. A lot of people involved in hardcore and punk don’t feel like they can relate to society and that’s how I feel too. Society, to me, is completely fucked, it’s a bunch of nameless faces and faceless names going through motions and faking their every move to impress someone else. I legitimately prefer being alone and bored in my room to going out and seeing anybody on a Friday night. To me there is no point in trying to mingle with a society that is already so locked into a system that they can’t ever escape without that fear of discomfort. I enjoy spending most of my time outside of that world. It’s the only way I feel like I’m living my own life. Whether my system or hardcore’s system is any better or worse than society’s system, well maybe we’re all hypocrites for making that judgment, I don’t know. If I’m a baby or a hypocrite for expressing my disgust with human beings, well then I guess I can live with that, haha. Guilty as charged.
IZ: A lot of kids who are into Weekend Nachos also really dig your other project Cyborg. Can we expect anything new to come from them this year? Also I’ve heard there was a falling out between Nachos and Harm’s Way, what happened with that? WN: Cyborg was just a side project for the most part, we enjoyed doing it but we really don’t write any new material or play shows any more. We didn’t break up but we are not really active either. I am excited that people like(d) Cyborg, and hopefully we’ll do something again at some point, but there are no promises there. There was never a falling out between WN and Harms Way, I’m not sure where you heard that! I quit Harms Way for personal reasons but that’s it! We’ve always been cool with eachother, there was never even one second of beef. I’m playing bass for Harms Way at an upcoming gig, actually. Just for one show we’re gonna be playing all the old stuff with the original lineup. IZ: Thanks again for taking the time out to do this interview for us, do you have any final words or shout outs you’d like to get done? WN: I guess I would just like to say that The Terminator is the greatest movie of all time and everybody needs to stop fighting at hardcore shows... it’s stupid. Love, Ponderosa
CO COM MIC IC BY BY:: RI RICH CHIE IE PE THTE RSON E PO TTER
generic movie about a bunch of snakes killing some people. I finally gave ‘Sssssss’ a watch and was surprised about how good it was. It’s plot was comparable to ‘The Fly’ instead of being about killing and hunting snakes like you’d think from the title. I told myself I wouldn’t give away the entire plot because I’d really like readers to watch this movie themselves.
Sssssss (1973) I first came across this movie from buying one of those “4 movies in 1” DVDs I found at a buy/sell used movie store. I only wanted the 4-in-1 pack because ‘Phantasm 2’ was in there. I was pretty interested to watch ‘Sssssss’ because of it’s odd name but I figured it’d just be some
Night Of The Living Dead (‘68) - Josh White / Strengthen What Remains The Shining - Wayne Ballard / Phantasm Toxicbreed’s Funhouse - Brian Barr/ / me Isolate Zine Exorcist Evil Dead 2 - Ryan Wade / Isolated Zine writer -Andrew Gomez / Glory Kid Records
It starts out with a couple men carrying a large crate which contents are unknown until later. You’re introduced to a scientist / snake enthusiast, Dr. Stoner who is in need of a new lab assistant in which he find a college student, David. Dr. Stoner collects venom from extremly poisonous snakes and ships it to use in types of medicine. Because of needing to work around such venomous snakes, the doctor treats David with shots to protect him from the venom. As the movie unravels, while David is falling in love with Dr. Stoner’s daughter, he is also having very strange side effects to the serum that the doctor gave him as the police are wanting to know what happened to the doctor’s past lab assistant. Watch this movie to find out what happens. You can find it in the 4-in-1 pack online for like $2 - $4, or find it somewhere online to watch! - Brian Barr
w hats your favorite sc ary movie? The 1990 Color remake of Night of the Living Dead. I normally hate remakes, but this was directed by Tom Savini and supervised by George Romero, so it was a perfect remake of the original, but with sweet effects and gore. - Andrew Meier / FocusedxMinds
LOCALS ONLY LOCAL REVIEWS
the Ohio hardcore scene last year with their 6 song EP, No Peace, being released on Get This Right Records is a release that won’t disappoint. The EP begins with a slow, stoner influenced, groove riff that is dubbed with political audio overtop of the track to introduce to prepare you for what’s to come, pissed off, aggressive hardcore. The other five tracks are wonderfully composed and juggle back and forth between the fast paced parts and more groove influenced breaks. If you’re a fan of older Ringworm then this record is right up your alley. With that being said this record is
far from another Ringworm carbon copy. Empire of Rats knows exactly what they’re going for and does it skillfully. My favorite track from No Peace happens to be their final track “Still Out of Breath.” This song has everything, from a circle pit inducing blasts to riffs that are guaranteed to have you banging your head for days. The highlight is the break in the middle of the song where all you hear is “I can’t see things clear” followed by one of the heaviest parts of the album. If this record doesn’t have get you moshing than there is no hope for you my friends. - Ryan Wade
Us’ EP with it’s best, most catchy song, ‘Live And Die’ which starts out slow, the way ‘World Burns Out’ did in their last EP. Once the drums kick in, you’ll be banging your head throughout the rest of the song, though don’t expect to see your buddy moshing to their new stuff the way people did to those select parts of their first EP. The new LIGHT YEARS material in this new 5-song JUST BETWEEN US EP is definitely more mature FFO: Blink 182 / The Story So Far in a good sense while Light Years is taking their career Pop punk kids from Kent, more seriously, dropping out Ohio, Light Years introduces of college to tour Europe this you to their new ‘Just Between Spring semester. An early to
mid era Blink 182 influence can be seen as always with Light Years, singing anthems that could be read as depressing without a sad and whiny tone. Light Years keeps their songs fun and fast while being honest about dying alone, being a liar, and being born to be nothing. Expect to catch on to these lyrics after a couple listens and joining in with singing along at shows. I’d say dropping out of college wasn’t a terrible idea for Light Years the way they could be heading after this 7” EP drops on Escapist Records. - Brian Barr
hardcore and one of the newest bands to our local scene, Trespasser, carries the tradition. Wages of Faith, the bands first EP, is 5 tracks of fast paced and gritty hardcore complete with tons of feedback, guitar solo’s that would make Kerry King proud and so many sludgy riffs it will leave your neck sore from head banging for days. The lyrical content is TRESPASSER - WAGES OF FAITH summed up on the title track FFO: Rot In Hell / Pulling Teeth “Wages of Faith” when the vocalist growls “blasphemy Cleveland, Ohio has always saved me/irreverence is my been a mecca for metallic only peace/I’ve paid the wages
of faith/I bare it’s scars”. While Trespasser doesn’t exactly re-invent the wheel with their first release, it is definitely one of the heaviest EP’s to come out of the NEOH this year. Be on the look out for more stuff from this band in the future and go download Wages of Faith from the group’s Bandcamp or buy the cassette when its released through Root of Evil Collective Records later this year. The Dark Lord will thank you for it. - Andrew Greene
EMPIRE OF RATS - NO PEACE FFO: Ringworm / 100 Demons Rising out of the ashes of two prominent Columbus, Ohio hardcore acts, Pitboss 2000 and Under One Flag, comes Empire of Rats – a hard hitting musical display of aggression and anger. Bursting onto
ALBUM REVIEWS
Xibalba / Incendiary split This split comes straight out of the gate with two ridiculously heavy tracks from Incendiary, “Survival” and “Rome is Burning.” Both of these tracks are filled with everything I love about hardcore, pissed off vocals,
Nails / Skin Like Iron split Two of the current crushers in today’s California hardcore scene, Nails and Skin Like Iron teamed up to self-release a split at the beginning of this year. Nails manages to keep their blistering fast speed on both tracks along with their almost doomy
chugging guitars, and a pounding rhythm section that will make you destroy your bedroom. The highlight of this side of the split for me was Uriah from Dead End Path’s guest spot in the middle of “Survival.” His vocals added the perfect amount of intensity to the song while the second track, “Rome is Burning” is just as intense as the first. On the flipside of this split are two new bangers from Xibalba, “Stone Heart” and “Fuck You Pelón.” These two tracks were really refreshing for me because on their last release I was really into about 2-3 songs but overall it got to be quite monotonous, with
this release they have found a way to break through that and provide two impressive jams. The energy in the first track is high throughout its entirety with tons of mosh parts to keep the kids happy. The second track from Xibalba, “Fuck You Pelón,” displays for us their Latino roots rather well as the lyrics continue to jump back from Spanish to English. Both of these bands complement each other well and provide for a great listen on this split. If this gives us any insight on what to expect from these bands upcoming full lengths then we’re really in for a treat in 2012. - Ryan Wade
heavy sound. Their side of the 4-track split starts with “Annihilation” which kicks in right away and jumps right into the blast of speed Nails is known for producing. It should be noted that Todd Jones of Nails’ vocals sound like the screams of someone enduring excruciating pains. This track is ridiculously heavy, like a train crashing through ear drums. The second track, “Cry Wolf” is a mere 24 seconds long. It features the same fast drums and crushing riffs while ending the song yelling the lyrics ‘So go talk your fucking shit’. Jumping into Skin Like Irons side of the split, it takes a complete turn. Kicking in
with feedback and a more punky riff, they deliver a slower approach. Skin Like Iron is a very interesting band, consisting of almost punk rock riffs at times with heavy screams throughout. It’s overall very original and really gives me an atmospheric feel. Their song gives me a more aggressive feel and the guitar work on it really stands out. It fades out with a beautiful feedback. All in all, both bands on this split offer something great and original. Spinning this at least once is most certainly worth your time, and if you like it enough be sure to purchase the 7”. - Aron Smith
ES.... EASES.. RELEAS AL REL LOCAL NEW LOC E NEW MORE MOR Gasmask
STREET FIGHTEP CANCEROUS Ashtabula beatdown
GASMASK DEMO TAPE Cleveland doomy death metal ISOLATEDYOUTH@YAHOO.
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FE AT UR ED ARTIST: ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN facebook.com/T H I S I S J O S H VA
IZ: What’s a basic way to describe the process you go through to design a piece? JOSHVA: It’s all about finding a subject to focus on first. I usually try to manipulate my own rather than just grabbing an image. Nothing too complicated at this point; it actually looks rather poor in this stage, but that’s normal. Once everything looks as if it’s in place, though, it’s all about layering, ‘beating up’, and defining the image. I favour a mix of muted textures, as they tend to add detail without taking too much away from the main image, and harder contrasts, which if done right hone in on the subject more and leave out any grey areas. I tend to use noise frequently, as it gives a dusty/fuzzy look, and personally I feel it brings out details more efficiently than halftoning. Anything beyond all that is really just experimenting on a whim. IZ: Do you do any sort of art outside the computer? JOSHVA: I’ve been attempting oil painting more recently. I’m more than likely headed towards acrylic, though; oil can be very tough to work with and takes far too long to dry, or to clean off for
Bartlett, Richey Beckett, Dan Seagrave, Philipp Banken, Jon Moore (Empty Sky), Jason Oda. IZ: I understand you’re the vocalist in a band called ‘Discerned’. How would you say you guys sound, and how’s that all going?
that matter. Other than that, I do occasional illustration. Even if you’re mainly a digital art enthusiast, it’s always essential to maintain a balance of that and physical work. Otherwise, you tend to lose touch with certain artistic sensibilities. IZ: List some artists that have most influenced your work and you look up to. JOSHVA: Give Up, Ryan Patterson, Jacob Bannon, Glyn Smyth, John Dyer Baizley, Leif Podhajsky, Dan Rossiter, Sin Eater, Justin
JOSHVA: An odd mishmash of Converge, Napalm Death, Trap Them, Brutal Truth, and splinters of bands like Rise and Fall, Pulling Teeth, Black Sabbath, and Rot in Hell; grindcore/crust leanings with a hardcore punk foundation and rare stoner metal moments. Currently, we’re just writing, preparing for a new release and playing shows here and there. Nothing too hectic, which seems to be working out for us.
OF:
AUSTIN
W THE LAKEVIE E S HOU & KING IN TUNE BOO & EST HELLBENT F
t s in a basemen booking show Contact him de du g un yo r venues. Super cool , Ohio and othe booking@yahoo.com an in Barnesville km ar sp austin for booking at IZ: Who are you and how old are you, and why do you look 47? AUSTIN: My name is Austin Sparkman, & I’m 17. THAT is because unlike some of us in this interview my balls have dropped. IZ: I’m 21 and you’re mean. So I’ve heard you have shows at your house in the basement. What’s your favorite show you’ve had? AUSTIN: I would have to say my favorite show was the Wrong Answer video shoot. All my best friends in one place.
that was an insane night. IZ: Tell us about your band. How’s that going? AUSTIN: I’m actually in two bands. Waters Ov Ain which is a blacken death metal outfit in which I sing for. We’ll have a 4/6 song EP out by summer. Then there is Death Sentence which is hardcore band I do everything in. I’ll be recording a 2/3 song demo at the end of March at Sacred Sound Studio in Ohio. IZ: What’s your dream band to have play your basement?
AUSTIN: Hands down SmallBrown Bike, favorite band of all time. IZ: What’s the best pizza place in Barnesville? AUSTIN: Home Pizza about 3 block down the street! I highly encourage anyone that comes to any of my shows to hit that joint up when you’re in town. IZ: Last but not least, what might you know about Reptillians? AUSTIN: The only thing I know about Reptilians is that Dungeon & Drag Queens in one of my favorite songs.
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from A389 Records, ‘Roots Of Earth Are This band is insane. Check out their last release for their new song, ‘Fox Womb’. video music their as well Consuming My Home’ as
IZ: What’s up dude? Introduce yourself and what you play in the band, as well as a favorite horror movie? DYLAN: Hey Brian, my name is Dylan and I sing in Full of Hell as well as provide most of the physical art and live power electronics. My favorite horror film would probably be Kubrick’s version of The Shining. Absolute classic. Terrifying score and amazingly shot. IZ: What would you say Full Of Hell sounds like to someone who might not know you guys? DYLAN: Usually when I’m asked about this, I just say that we’re a hardcore/punk band. It seems like the easiest way to go without being long winded or making things more confusing. IZ: So I heard Full Of Hell is coming out with a split EP with Code Orange Kids. Tell us about that. How’d it come about and how’s it sounding? DYLAN: We played with Code Orange Kids a year and a half ago and were completely blown away. We both really dug each other’s bands, so we kept in touch. Jami gave me a hard time for a long time because we had always meant to collaborate with them and it just hadn’t happened. We finally got into the studio together and recorded our songs. Both bands feel that it is our best material to date. We’re very excited about the whole thing and we both feel privileged to be able to work with one another. IZ: I understand you’re actually from the middle of Pennsylvania while most of the band is from Maryland? How is that like, and how did you end up in the band? DYLAN: I toured briefly in a band that ended up doing a tour with FOH. At the time, I think there were a lot of things Spencer wanted to do, but couldn’t because of conflicting interests with the then current line up. Fortunately, the first singer left shortly after and I jumped at the opportunity to join. From there we went on to create something that was more aligned with our personal taste. As far as me living so far away, it works out pretty smoothly. They rehearse almost every day, while I sit at home and listen to demos and write. It is difficult to play shows outside of tours, though.
IZ: What are your influences for the lyrics of Full Of Hell and what are some of the songs about? DYLAN: Ever since I was young, I’ve had occasions where I’ll have really violent nightmares. A lot of times they’re caused by stress or a bad flu, but the feeling of terror is pretty much indescribable. I think it may be from severely fracturing my skull when I was 4 years old. The overwhelming feeling of dread and of being utterly alone is something that I’ve tried to draw on to write the lyrics for FOH. I write more often about empathy and pity than about murder and violence. IZ: The band will be touring Europe this Spring with Grieved. Do you ever get nervous touring overseas? How’d last year’s Europe trip go? DYLAN: Of course, we are always anxious before any tour, so it all peaks when we are heading overseas. Last year’s tour in Europe was overwhelmingly successful, largely due to the hard work of our friends in No Omega. Grieved is from the same city of Stockholm, and we couldn’t be more excited to go back. photo by: Min or Paredes ,
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IZ: What bands have you been jamming lately? DYLAN: Lately I’ve been listening to the new Bastard Noise LP, Skulldozer and I’ve also fallen back into listening to a lot of Leonard Cohen. On top of that, Tom Waits and GASP never seem to leave my playlist. IZ: Thanks for your time! Any final words you’d like to say? DYLAN: Thanks for the interview, Brian! Dave Bland’s phone number is 443-513-1457.. You should probably call him if you’re reading this. photo by: Dan ielle Parsons
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Wrong Answer
, PA hardcore band, Wrong Answer is rolling After releasing three 7 “ records, Philadelphiaore Records, “Cross A Black Cat’s Path”. Harvc strong. Check out their last release off sized crowds. It used to be, IZ: Introduce yourself, think about the tour that a long time ago, that every what you play, and what much in the days leading up american band that went you like to drink on tour? to it, which helped me to be over to europe would kill it, less nervous. I was working JUSTIN: My name is Justin, I but there are so many great up until the day before we do vocals in wrong answer. euro bands around (and left and taking care of other On tour I like to drink a varithere have been for awhile) shit and it was cool because ety of beverages - in terms of that it takes more than just the shit you end up being stuff that will help keep me being from the states to nervous about in these kind alive, I’m a fan of smart water. of situations is mostly just impress a crowd. That being Soda wise I like Mr. Pibb, said, our last tour was a lot of stuff that’s beyond your Mountain Dew, Mello Yello, fun over here, so hopefully control so it’s best to just not and a variety of regional root this one will be more of the even think about it. Before beers, birch beers, etc. I’m same. I’m definitely looking E knew it we were at the also into faygo. forward to getting to play Chili’s in the airport waiting to board our flight and every- some shows. IZ: You’re about to be gothing was great. Honestly I’m ing on tour with Kingdom IZ: You recently came out usually more nervous when in Europe. Is this your first with a new 4 song 7” record we go to Canada because European tour, and are you titled ‘Cross A Black Cat’s although we’ve never had nervous in any way headPath’. How has the reaction any problems, sometimes ing out, playing shows in been? Are there any plans they can really fuck you over another country?How’s the for more new releases in at the border. It’s happened scene different? (If you’ve the future? to my friends and one time been there before) when I was road dogging for JUSTIN: It seems like it’s JUSTIN: This is WA’s second Mother Of Mercy, they got been pretty good! People time in europe, we went rejected. have been listening to it and over from April to May with are starting to sing along or Anyway, the music scene a band called Guilty from mosh to the songs live. From in Europe is different but Sweden (who just released a what I’ve seen most people interesting. They do every7 inch on Six Feet Under Reseemed to like it, including thing totally different from cords recently). Before that I people who weren’t into our the ground up. In America, did a tour of Europe with my older stuff, which is aweshows mostly take place old band, and it went horsome. I definitely think it’s in rental halls and people’s ribly, but the one WA did in our best recorded material to houses, these kind of venues the spring was awesome. We date. As far as future releases, are the backbone of the left yesterday and I’m now the next thing you’ll see from American hardcore scene, sitting in some dude’s apartus will be an LP, but i don’t especially for smaller touring ment in Sweden after spendknow when that will be. bands. In europe, almost eving almost the entire last 24 we’re gonna take our time on hours on a plane and in a van ery show you play will be in a it and make sure it’s all that it dedicated venue, often with and stuff so I’m kind of out of can be, but if we do anything a couple of different rooms it but honestly I didn’t really else that will be it. for bands who draw different
photo by: Dan ielle Parsons
IZ: How’d the name ‘Wrong Answer’ come about? JUSTIN: It’s a pretty simple name, at the time WA started we were just a side project kind of band that was gonna play some local shows and see if our friends would mosh or whatever, so I didn’t put a lot of thought into it, the name was kind of along the lines of No Warning or bands like that so I thought it fit pretty well. The origin of how I came up with the name was that the summer we started practicing, my friends and I went to Ocean City, NJ and would go up to girls on the boardwalk and say things like ‘Hey do you think I should take my shirt off?’ or ‘Hey do you think I should drop my pants right now?’ and when they inevitably said ‘No’ we’d be like ‘wrong answer’ and do it anyway. I hope that doesn’t come off as sounding too rape-y, I don’t want to have an Agitator styled scandal on my hands. I assure you that the actual incident was pretty ridiculous and just in good fun (and we were in the middle of the boardwalk
so when I dropped my pants I still had shorts on, I didn’t just flash innocent people). IZ: I understand Wrong Answer isn’t actually a ‘straight edge’ band, but how many members are edge, and how’s it different being in a band without edge members compared to your old band, Let Down which was all edge? JUSTIN: Out of the actual band I’m the only one who’s straight edge. Last time we were in europe the singer of Guilty, Anton, filled in for us on bass and he’s doing the same this time around and he is straight edge as well. Kevin, our guitar player never really does anything so for all intents and purposes he’s not much different than being in a band with a straight edge guy. The other two drink but it’s nothing too crazy. It’s definitely a lot different than being in Let Down because Let Down’s whole reason for existence was to be straight edge, those dudes were also my best friends and we were always on the same page.
I like the dudes in Wrong Answer but nothing will ever compare to the experience of going on your first tours and doing all that other shit for the first time (playing fests, putting out records, whatever) with your best friends. Sometimes the lyrics I sing about kind of go into straight edge territory but that’s just because it’s who I am, if I wasn’t straight edge then I’d be an entirely different person and everything about the band would be different. As far as dealing with them, I mean maybe once or twice someone got drunk and did something stupid and I had to kind of chastise them like they were 5 years old, which is certainly annoying and something i don’t enjoy doing, but for the most part they have their shit together and it’s not that big of a deal, they certainly don’t disrespect me or anything. It’s just that in my experience alcohol tends to make people act like babies haha. It’s kind of unavoidable.
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IZ: How do you feel about the current state of this country? JUSTIN: I don’t know how to get this out there without sounding like an idiot or sounding like an ungrateful moron who takes living in a first world country for granted but I think it pretty much sucks to live in America right now. We’re kind of the laughing stock of the entire world. Our country has so much wealth but doesn’t lift a finger to take care of it’s citizens. We have everyone convinced that ‘the american dream’ means to fight for the crumbs the rich people throw us and say ‘fuck you’ to everyone else who can’t get those crumbs as fast. Everyone is too stupid to realize that if we all worked together we could get a better deal for everyone, instead of letting our greed take over, motivating us to only make decisions for ourselves. It used to be that even if you didn’t go to college, you knew that there was a future for you if you were a decent person and you were willing to work hard. That concept doesn’t exist anymore because all the big corporations have moved the manufacturing and production jobs overseas to cut costs. Fuck the big businesses and the politicans they have in their pockets, these people don’t give a shit about us and will fuck us all over just to get even richer. These are the people that pull the strings and we’re all under their control, it sucks. IZ: What’s your favorite scary movie? JUSTIN: In terms of a movie that actually scared me, the first ‘Ring’ movie actually scared the fuck out of me when it came out, I had to sleep over at my friend’s house because I was too scared to go home. In terms
of just horror movies I’m into, I like the fourth and sixth Friday the 13ths, Evil Dead 2, Re-Animator, Return Of The Living Dead, Dead Alive, stuff like that. IZ: How’s the scene changed since Let Down days? Is there anything about the current hardcore scene that annoys you?
photo: Lindsey De
Luca
JUSTIN: It’s a lot different, in some ways better and in some days worse I guess. It’s definitely better to be a band now than it was back then. I truly believe that every band nowadays gets a chance, the fact that our band can go on tour and have people actually be into us is pretty fucking crazy and I never take it for granted. A few years back it seemed like there were about 10-15 ‘bigger’ bands, and then nobody gave a fuck about any of the other ones. Now with the way the internet is, with facebook pages and tumblr and bandcamps and shit like that, the experience of listening to a band is so closely linked to social networking that bands are getting more exposure than ever before. This is good for the bands but if you’re a kid who’s just a fan of the music there’s an awful lot of filler crap getting shoved down your throat, and i don’t think it’s unfair to say that the overall quality of
bands has gone down, and that’s not me being jaded, I like a lot of bands around today, still go out to a ton of shows and have a good time, but some of the bands that get propped up for success and talked about, I can’t even believe it. So many obvious rip off and copy bands, bands bringing absolutely nothing new to the table which is fine, I understand this is hardcore and i’m not asking anyone to re-invent the wheel or anything like that, but if you can’t even write lyrics that aren’t entirely comprised of clichees and catch phrases from other bands that came before you, why even bother being in a band? Why not just write that shit on your backpack in white-out or something and be done with it. Seems kind of silly to me. IZ: What hardcore and non-hardcore bands have you been jamming to lately? JUSTIN: Lately it’s been: hardcore - Pegasus 7 inch, Merauder demos with Eddie Leeway and Minus, Cro Mags ‘Before the Quarrel’, Leeway - Desperate Measures, Never Healed, No Tolerance, Beware, Black Feathers, this new band Sabotage from Canada, new Stick Together. non hardcore - Pulp, Sleigh Bells, Naked and the Famous, Pains of being Pure at Heart, Morrissey b sides, Samiam, and I listen to the radio all day at work. My favorite radio jams include ‘Domino’ and ‘International Love’ IZ: Thanks for letting me interview you. Any final shout outs JUSTIN: Philadelphia hardcore, Philadelphia straight edge, all of my friends back home, and everyone in Europe we’re about to see. Thanks for the interview
photo by: Dan ielle Parsons
FA CE RE AL ITY
is a youth crew influenced . straight edge band from Detroit e Wad n Rya by w rvie Inte
IZ: Introduce yourself, what you do in the band, and what’s your favorite place to eat as a band? JAMES: Yo what’s up, I’m James. I’m the voice behind Face Reality. Everyone else in the band likes to eat Chipotle on tour but I think that shit is gross so I try to hit the closest establishment selling chicken, Chik Fil A being my favorite. As for here in Detroit I’m pretty sure we could all agree on Slow’s Bar B Q. IZ: Last year you signed with Youngblood Records and put out your Self-Titled 7”, how did the signing come about and how has the reception to the record been so far? JAMES: I’ve always been a huge fan of Youngblood and the first gig I ever left the state to go see was a YB showcase at the Championship in PA, so I really wanted the chance to get a record out on Youngblood. Even if it was a long shot, I gave a demo of the 7” to Sean YB in person at This Is Hardcore 2010 after being introduced to him by Ev of MINDSET. He dug the recordings and agreed to add us to the flawless Youngblood roster. We were all pumped about it. IZ: There is a bit of a change in style, mainly vocally, from “Positive Change” to your newer self-titled release. What brought about this more aggressive sound? JAMES: It takes a while to get comfortable with your voice, particularly in the studio. This is the first band I’ve ever been in so at the start I didn’t really know what I was doing. After touring and playing a bunch of shows when we recorded the first record, I felt comfortable and wanted to try new things with my voice. I’m happy with the way it turned out. IZ: Things have seemed to be quiet from the Face Reality camp lately can you give us a bit of insight into any plans you may have for 2012? Tour? New record? Become a Nickelback cover band? JAMES: We haven’t been playing very many shows, we’ve been focusing on writing a new record. We’re excited to say that it’s finished and we are heading out to Studio 4 in Philadelphia in March to record this. It is going to be a 7” titled STRONG SURVIVE on Back to Back Records. We have some plans to get out on the road that we can’t really talk about yet but we’re excited. We’re hoping to play everywhere that we haven’t played yet this summer.
IZ: Detroit has always had a rather promising straight edge hardcore scene, is this still the case today, and what is it that you think keeps those ideals so strong in a city that is known to be so downtrodden? JAMES: Right now Detroit has a bunch of new bands, a few are straight edge. There are also a bunch of younger straight edge kids coming around pretty often. Freedom is an awesome new straight edge band from Detroit. Check them out. Hopefully more straight edge bands start around here. IZ: With changes being brought up in Congress from the SOPA and PIPA bills what do you think the future is for smaller hardcore bands like yourselves? Do you think if websites like Mediafire and Megaupload are shut down it will be more difficult to get your music out there for new people to hear? JAMES: I don’t think these changes will ever take place. This is the land of the free, remember? If these websites shut down, I’m sure there will be a new way for small bands to get music out there, man. If not, maybe people will buy records more often? Who knows. It could be the end of hardcore, dude. Holy shit. IZ: Does anyone in the band skate? If so, do you bring your board and shred on tour? JAMES: Yeah, me and Rob skate. We always bring our boards out on tour. Nothing kills time better. Shout out to Hoodrack from Stick Together/War Hungry. Another skating coreman. I had a great time skating with him when we were on tour this past summer. IZ: What were some of your favorite releases from 2011? Both hardcore and nonhardcore. JAMES: Beach Boys “SMiLE” reissue, Title Fight “Shed”, GIVE singles, Whirr “Distressor” (Thanks to Uriah for putting me on to this), War Hungry LP, Iron Age Saga Demos, Dead End Path LP, Boldy James “Trappers Alley”, Freddie Gibbs “cold day in hell”, Statik Selektah/Action Bronson “Well Done”, Roc Marciano/Gangrene “Greneberg” IZ: Thanks for taking the time out to answer my questions. Do you have any last words or shout outs? JAMES: Thanks for taking the time to ask us questions, man. Hopefully people check us out, maybe cop a 7” or a shirt, hit the pit, tweet us, learn the words. DHC in 2012. Ghoul Gang. ONE! Dead End Records fed us detours. Youngblood and Back 2 Back feed us C-4’s
FFO: Youth Of Today, Stick nt Together, early Turning Poi
photo by: Tayl or Wadley
R O T A T I G A ck out every dcore from Philadelphia, PA. Che Agitator rules. Straight Edge harall worth banging your head to. release they’ve put out. They’re IZ: How’s the Philadelphia scene? I IZ: Introduce yourself, what you play, always hear about great things going and what’s your favorite beverage on on there and I’m jealous. What’s your tour? favorite cities to play besides your hometown? MARTY: I’m Marty, I sing in the band. My favorite beverage is a nice bottle of MARTY: Philadelphia’s hardcore scene root beer. Not some stupid root beer like is the best. I’m sure everyone thinks Barq’s, I’m talking the real deal. The best that about their home town, but having root beer I’ve had on tour was at a restauplayed a bunch of places, I really think it’s rant called McCoy’s in Kansas City. They true. I don’t know anywhere else that gets make their own root beer in the restausuch consistently awesome lineups on rant and it’s amazing. If you’re ever in KC their shows. It’s mostly due to all the work and you like a good root beer check it out. Joe Hardcore puts into it, but none of that would happen without all the support IZ: How would you describe Agitator’s music to someone who might not know from everyone attending the shows. you? One of my favorite places to play is Barnesville, OH. It’s in the middle of MARTY: We’re an angry, heavy, straight nowhere but for some reason people edge band travel from all over to go to those shows IZ: Is Agitator planning or writing for and each time it’s been awesome. I really a new release? If so, how’s that soundlike Buffalo, Louisville, and anywhere in MARTY: We’re writing for a full length on Canada too. I think the Funeral Home in Six Feet Under Records. As far as I know Buffalo is one of the coolest venue’s we’ve it’s going to be 8 new songs and 2 old played at. ones rerecorded. I haven’t heard any of it yet, but Pat’s been working on writing the IZ: ‘Diseased’ is one of my favorite songs of yours, but I’ve heard others guitar parts so hopefully I can hear some don’t share this same fascination of the rough demos sometime soon. I think song. What happened with that? we’re trying to record at the end of April.
photo by: Danielle Parson s
MARTY: I was trying to write a song taking a stance against sexual promiscuity, which I thought I had accomplished. But then a lot of people started associating lines in the song that weren’t meant to be put together and then came to the conclusion that I’m blaming date rape on the victim. This isn’t what I was trying to say at all, but no matter what I say about the topic, all of the misunderstandings keep piling up. That’s why we don’t play the song anymore. I think it’s a shame, because the meaning I was going for has been overshadowed by the misinterpretations. IZ: I heard you guys forced Gary, Indiana to throw trash cans at each other and you have some bad shirts so you can’t play in Europe or something? Tell us about that. MARTY: We were supposed to play a Fest in Germany this summer. I forget the name and don’t feel like looking it up, but we were kicked off the fest because people complained about the lyrics to Diseased and Natural Selection. Other people were against us playing because they are convinced that the Zodiac Killer
on our first shirt design we ever made is a KKK Klansman, which is wrong. It’s a sketch of an eyewitness account of the serial killer. Then some other people were complaining because of the video of us playing Gary, IN. They were offended that we would continue to play while the people throwing the trashcans “ruined” the show for everyone else. There were about 30 or 40 people at this show and all of them were running around doing stupid shit or they were safe in the back. Nobody’s show was ruined. The entire set was tame up until when some rappers were trying to record a song upstairs and came down to the show to record for a music video. They told everyone to go crazy in the background so that’s what happened. The video they made is pretty hilarious. They talk about their music video and you see them all rapping with crazy white dudes throwing trashcans around in the background. If you search “summer time rush episode 43” on YouTube you’ll find it. IZ: What’s your opinion on that band, Wrong Answer? MARTY: I think Wrong Answer is a great band. We’re friends with them and most of the touring we’ve done is with them. I’ve probably seen them 50 times in the past two years and I still think they’re great. Their singer Justin did guest spots on two of our songs. IZ: What hardcore and non-hardcore bands have you been jamming to? MARTY: Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Horror Show and Megadeth. I’ve been listening to the new Daylight record, which is awesome. Some other stuff I’ve been listening to is the new Trapped Under Ice, the Sabotage demo, and the new Burdens EP. IZ: Thanks for answering my questions dude. Any final words or shout outs? MARTY: Congratulations to Code Orange Kids for getting on Deathwish. They’re great people and we’re excited to be doing about a month in Europe with them this summer.
Matt Barnum / Homewrecker
Richie Peterson / artist, pottery man
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