Combust

I’ve been following Combust since the demo that Straight & Alert from France put out almost 3 years ago. 2019’s ‘The Void’ made such an impact in the worldwide hardcore scene that cannot go unnoticed. Combust recently unleashed a superb 2 song single (soon on tape via the Spanish label Tambores De Guerra) covering The Templars and Fear! I grabbed the chance to talk to the Andrew Vacante, their singer, who is also active in bands like Reaction & Don’t Trust A Soul, about his Italian origins, NYHC, hip hop and his new fanzine called Core Clientele!

Pictures by Carl Gunhouse, James Scott and Billy Egan.

www.instagram.com/combustnyhc www.facebook.com/CombustNYHC

Hey Andrew! I hope you are doing great and surviving the 2nd / 3rd or whatever wave of the pandemic! How’s life in NY and how is your personal life / work affected by all this?

Life is weird, I gotta say. New York is still kinda shut down. Gyms, restaurants, bars, etc. Low IQ individuals trying to fight it. The usual. My job is pretty much the same so I can’t complain on that end. My personal life, however is suffering because this is easily the longest I’ve ever gone without playing / going to a show in my whole life. It’s ruined so many plans for my bands but has helped me deal with shit not going according to plan. But I just wanna play a show. I miss it so much.

Italian roots, born and raised in New York; not unusual in the NYHC history! Which part

of Italy are your origins from and do you visit the country often?

My heritage traces back to Naples and Calabria. I actually have a great great uncle or grandfather that has an area named after him in Rome called “Via Pasquale Baffi”. They beheaded him in the center square. Ha. I have yet to visit Italy. I was supposed to this summer but covid unfortunately put an end to that.

Combust managed to close this shitty year in the best way! Your 2-song cover single made lots of people’s day when it was released a couple of weeks ago! Why did you choose to cover Fear & The Templars specifically? I know that Tambores De Guerra from Spain is taking care of a tape release of the single. Is it going to be released on a 7”, too?

Fear and The Templars are just personal favorites and it’s rare nowadays to see HC bands give a nod to important punk bands. Currently no plans for those tracks to be going on a 7” but ya never know I guess.

2020 also marked the release of your new song ‘Missing piece’ and Combust signing to Reaper Records. So do we expect a full album in 2021? How did you come to the deal with such a big label as Reaper?

We actually didn’t sign with Reaper, we just ended up doing a comp with them which was cool. Shout out Kitzel. We’re currently working on an LP as we speak and are incredibly excited.

I was firstly introduced to your music when Alexis from Straight & Alert Records, based

in France, released your demo tape back in 2018. I really missed that late 80s / early 90s NYHC vibe, so as you can imagine I was super stoked to listen to that tape and also the 12” ‘The Void’ the year after. How big of a Killing Time and The Icemen fan are you? What are your favorite records of that NYHC era?

Thank you for the kind words bro. Killing Time is my favorite NYHC band. ‘Brightside’ just encapsulates New York City in my opinion. Like you listen to that record and hear the city. No one will ever come close to recreating it. I’d say Dynamo is a close second for my favorite. The Icemen is a classic band but I prefer Dynamo. Another band that just can’t be imitated. 89 era

of NYHC is untouchable tho man. ‘Best Wishes’, ‘Bringin’ it Down’, ‘Blood Sweat And No Tears’. Endless classics.

This issue also feature an interview with Mindforce and I talked with Jay about the new wave of NYHC dominating the scene the last years. In my opinion, this is definitely the best era for the genre since the 90s. What do you think about this?

Shout out to my Italian polo brother Jay. I’m definitely excited about where NYHC is right now I just wish there were more bands especially coming out of the city for sure. But the bond between the current NY bands is strong and I’m

grateful for that. Shout out Mindforce, Regulate, Rule Them All, The Fight, King Nine...

What happened to the Don’t Trust A Soul project? Give us some info about this, by the way! Should we expect a new release or was it an one-off thing?

Damn bro ask Jay! Hahaha. That man is so busy with a million projects. We talk about ideas for another release but we’ll see if it happens. I’d love to do another release. DTAS is a fun little band that just combines HC, hip hop and mafia movies. Basically me and Jay in music form.

You are also involved in the straight edge band Reaction! How important is straight edge for you and how relevant is it today?

Straight edge has been a part of my life for so long...my whole life basically and It’s just really who I am. It will always be relevant especially with all the bullshit drug culture that media and certain music promotes. I’ll be straight edge till I’m dead.

Lots of bands mix hardcore with other genres (besides metal) nowadays, be it indie, hip hop or oi! It seems that hardcore is now more open-minded than ever. Is the Templars cover a tribute to that oi! / hardcore scene? Do you follow street punk / oi!? And what about hip hop? It seems that you are a big fan, too. What other music do you enjoy?

I definitely have always been a huge punk and oi! fan. But aside from that, metal and hardcore, hip hop is my other passion. I’m just incredibly inspired and excited about the current state of underground hip hop. It’s so good. Insane amounts of good music these past few years. If you’re into HC and not connected with hip hop, you are weird. I enjoy basically everything. I’m a huge Billy Joel fan, I love doo wop, rat pack stuff. Literally anything.

2020 was undoubtedly the comeback year of hardcore zines. The quarantine sprung creativity to hardcore kids searching for outlets during the absence of shows. You also started a new zine, tell us some more!

Yea, I’ve been wanting to do a zine for as far back as I could remember but never locked down a solid group of people willing to put the work in. I’m glad I got 2 people in my corner who are invested and are my friends. It’s called Core Clientele. We sold out of the first issue pretty quickly and the response was sick. We’re already working on the second issue right now and it’s just another cool way to be creative in a time where artists are struggling, especially musicians.

What’s the dream line up for a Combust show when all this is over? Of all the shows / tours you’ve done, which one stands out the most? What was the weirdest thing that happened to you while on tour?

Dream line up (in no particular order):

Killing Time Dynamo Countdown Big Cheese Combust

I’ll probably look at this and change my mind about it and name 40 other bands I wanted to put down but this just came to my head first haha! Damn. ‘The Void’ record release show was awesome and so was the Blind Justice release show. Too many to choose from honestly. Playing the main stage at the old Ritz was also a dream come true. Weirdest thing that’s ever happened on a tour... this was with my old band. We played some random spot in Gainesville, Florida, for context. After the show we needed a place to stay and these kids offered and then proceeded to take us “mudding” which is basically just driving big trucks through swamps , then tattooed the worst tattoo of all time on our drummer in this disgusting basement with no light while feeding certain members pot brownies and then the next day took us to shoot guns in the middle of nowhere...very interesting to say the least.

That’s all I guess! Spread out a positive message for 2021!

Let’s all try to make it through this new year of existing problems. Hopefully shows come back soon. In the meantime, let’s keep up the music and art so it feels almost the same. Thank you for this interview it was great. Combust / Downfall / Core Clientele 2021. NYHC.