With Honors latest album This Is Our Revenge is out now, this interview was done with the bands then singer Todd shortly before he left the band...
How have you drawn comparisons from here to the states?
Its wild even just the fact that every show has got a bar, you never see that in the states. Very rarely and if there is a bar normally the bar is in a separated room. It’s just really different. Like I could see why it seems a lot of the European kids who are (straight edge) are much more like
Laid back?
Laid back but at the same time much more raising the flag for it way more, and id hate to say because its sounds so cheap but very dignified with the way they carry themselves and I think that’s awesome.
Like I said before these questions were quite hastily written…for the record your Todd & how old are you now?
23 years old
Same as me…Where about's in Connecticut did you grow up?
I grew up in a town called Windsor, which is right outside the capital city. I moved out of Connecticut about 7 months ago and I now live in Providence, Rhode Island, which is right near that, you could throw a rock to it from my hometown. It’s about a two-hour drive.
That’s pretty impressive that you could throw a rock the sort of distance that would normally take an automobile two hours to get to, I mean that would make you some kind of Herculean man beast.
At least in hindsight that’s what I should have said however I’m not that quick on the ball and the following is what was really said….
What was your hometown like?
It’s a real small town, not a city at all. The biggest city in Connecticut is still like nothing compared to like the big cities in the states. Hartford the capital that my town borders to the south was a commercial city where like it would shut down at night. There weren’t very many apartments in it and no one really spent much time there, there wasn’t much of a nightlife, or anything that we could really boast of. In general Connecticut is a very-town-like-suburb, a lot of people even call it a suburb of New York City. We border New York and Massachusetts.
I then ramble incoherently on about how I’ve been interested in American Civil war history and have been reading up on it to which Todd says that that is what he studied
Where I grew up I could drive an hour and forty-five minutes and be in Boston. Or drive an hour and forty-five minutes and be in New York City.
That must have been awesome for shows! Was there anything in your childhood that may have shaped the way your life is heading at the moment?
I guess it sounds so typical cause I don’t think anyone does, but I’ve never been one to fit the mould, or even try to. Not that I was super defiant or anything. Maybe it was my parents or maybe it was just like the few kids when I was younger that id did hang out with, but it was never wrong to be different and you never needed to prove anything. My older cousin got me into underground hip-hop, skateboarding, punk rock music and I then started going to shows. I got a little bit into painting then spray painting. I guess it was those kinds of things that made me; I was influenced by all those subcultures. Which was kind of one sub culture at the time that really shaped like what I love about my life right now and the things that I love about what’s going on.
Are any of your family particularly artistic? Your parents?
My mother can wreak havoc with a pen and a pencil; she can draw like you wouldn’t believe. But my father is not really artistic at all. I have an older sister and she didn’t really do that, and none of them were musicians or got into music. I started playing drums when I was really young and then I got into the guitar I just loved it and it was always my alternative to like doing drugs and getting into trouble. I’d rather get arrested for skateboarding or spray painting or doing something that I like to do.
How about the current Connecticut hardcore scene what sort of bands are there? Hatebreed being the obvious one (as well as Stillborn Records Jamey Jasta’s label)…What about zines?
In the states in general there a very few (zines), so many people do Internet zines and it’s less of a presence and I guess because I'm not on the internet all the time I'm less up with zines on the internet.
I hate websites being referred to as zines. A zines is a MAGAzine
I mean the zine culture was huge six or seven years ago, kids doing political zines, straight edge zines and vegan zines.
There were some really great ones in Europe Value Of Strength & Reflections two of my favourites. Would you describe yourselves as a positive hardcore band?
It’s been something that we’ve been touted as and described as. With the state of hardcore right now or what is at least at the front of aggressive music would much rather be called a positive band than anything. I forget at times people couple that with being cheesy or hokey
There also doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of youth crew bands around at the moment, which was basically why I got into HC cause I love all the at stuff. The messages that those bands spread maybe not in the 80’s as I kind of have a thing about people moving from scene to scene and being one person one minute and then dropping there beliefs the next, so I related more to bands of my time like Snapcase
Yeah it always hit me so hard when someone was completely impassioned and literally freaking out in front of your face about something that was good. I just blew my mind when I got into HC. John our drummer his absolute favourite band is Snapcase; those were the sorts of bands we were all moved by.
Caboose and the lyrics in that song sum up what hardcore is to me.
For me I look at a band like Snapcase and not that I don’t think that there positive or uplifting I just feel there so confrontational I feel like in this day and age we come to a show or to these bars regardless of whether your straight edge or not I notice the lack of self respect in people or the lack of self value that people put on there health and there well being and what they consume. It’s really like a confrontational pissed off manner that we all live together, you know what I mean?
Seems to me and I can’t really comment cause I don’t live in America but things like Boston Beatdown doesn’t really bode well with me cause I don’t understand stuff like that and that wasn’t why I got into hardcore (violence) I’ve talked to people in crews (are you? No) what are the shows generally like in America?
This is our first tour of the UK and we’ve not done a full tour of the continent (Europe) but even just Canada you’ll never see a fight there. But in the States fights just run rampant, I understand why it happens because there’s so much attitude and it just sucks, it really doe’s.
It’s one of those catch twenty-two’s cause hardcore’s such an aggressive form of music your bound to find people that will clash
I’m sure it’s hard for you, where you sow so much of your time and energy into something that you feel should be away from that.
I’ve been toying with the idea of writing an anti-violence article for my website for ages and ages but I don’t really come form the sort of background where like I go home and I need to defend myself when I’m walking home I do in a way but not in comparison to other places. I’m talking to someone at the moment who contacted me via the website and he was saying there are all these crews in his neighbourhood and there’s literally a crew occupying a house opposite his own and if someone confronts him you either stand and fight or give them your money. I can’t really see myself writing an anti-violence article when I don’t have to deal with that sort of stuff on a daily basis.
That’s again just realising like the way you grew up and the way that you were socialised as a person, your culture and everything like what we were just talking about a minute ago that shows here are in bars and even the social norm is very, very, very different like in terms of substance consumption and all that. The standards are just so different my views could be digested by face value from you assuming we grew up the same.
I’ve seen my fair share of fights at shows but was never interested in it
I’m not making an argument for it
At the same time I can understand why some stuff doe’s happen, how long have you been touring full-time, if you do or do you have jobs to all go back and do?
We’ve toured as a quote full-time band for like two and a half years or something, but we’ve been at home times in there where not everyone has had jobs but like when I’ve been able to work I’ve always worked just because I’ve had too. We’ve never been to the point where it’s just easier to just sit, were not a money-making enterprise by any means.
Was the transition easy from just playing the odd show to building it up? Was it a gradual build or was it something that kind of happened when you say released a CD or something?
Well we were all in bands before this band and this just happened really fast so in a lot of ways it was pretty easy and I say that like not really remembering the things that we took in our stride, we all quit jobs or quit school, we all quit whatever we were apart of. There was a semi-long road leading up to it but it wasn’t as hard as I feel like, I don’t feel like I could complain we’ve had it very; very good and we were fortunate to have tours.
When was the band formed?
2002
See even that, some bands work years and years before they get noticed, it probably was that first CD you did with Jamey (Jasta) and Stillborn (Records) that really got you on the international forum
It was our demo
How did that all happen?
They were playing together as a side project band and they couldn’t find a singer and they recorded the demo, the E.P. that was put out by Stillborn but they couldn’t find a singer. I had never sang in a band and they were just like we should just try it and it just happened. It got on the internet and we started playing the states and all of a sudden we were touring full-time. Honestly it’s almost been really difficult because it happened so quickly
You didn’t really have time to plan and think about what was happening…
Yeah, we were touring to support a demo and by the time we were supposed to write a full-length we didn’t really know what to do
(I laugh)
But no, it was something that we struggled with seriously, I feel like at least from my perspective in the band I’ve always struggled with it, feeling like you’re always a few months behind mentally.
I can relate to some of what your saying, back in the summer I was in a band (which didn’t have a very long lifespan) we started practising then the next month we did a show. Do you find the pressure of writing the lyrics? Knowing that you really want to touch kids? (We both start laughing) that totally came out wrong! What’s the word I men’t…Affect people? Doe’s that sort of pressure stress you out?
It’s stresses me out yeah, I don’t feel like anything’s ever been compromised I just feel like the band didn’t really find an identity until the newest album. We did the demo, then we did a full-length on Stillborn, which is “Heart Means Everything”, and then we did a split on Martyr Records then we did the full length on Victory. So it’s a lot of releases for a band who’s only been around for three or four years but I felt like we were moving to quickly creatively and playing a little too defensively instead of attacking the opportunity and really making it a point to say everything, to do everything we wanted to do on our record.
What are your favourite things that go hand in hand with the touring?
I love seeing new places and love being for the good and the bad of being in different cultures and moving around the states because everyplace is so different.
Had you travelled much growing up?
No, not really, I don’t really think any of the other guys did either. To my knowledge none of us really came from money. So I’d been to Florida, which is the southern most state on the east coast once when I was five years old and that was about as much as I did before doing this band.
Reason I ask is because it’s quite unusual for kids here not to travel, I was always the odd one at school cause I was the one kid who didn’t get to go to Disney World when I was growing up (I’ll get there though mark my words lol)
None of us really travelled much before playing music
So you’ve all developed a greater appreciation for it?
Yeah when you get in and out of different cultures and see different types of people it affects your world view so much and like everything you decide to identify yourself with by just seeing other people and the way they hold there ideas, beliefs, the way the world around them affects them is really empowering.
What sort of things can’t you leave home without?
This is the first tour where you obviously can’t bring your phone so it’s really difficult not to talk to people
Have you all got girlfriends back home?
Four out of five of us. Not being able to call home or to check in is hard. I actually managed to get a laptop so I try not to leave home without that. Except over here there doesn’t seem to be as much wireless Internet which is really weird. For example at home you can’t even beat it off with a stick.
There will probably be a better reception for that as you go more into Europe.
Like in the states you can’t avoid the Internet because it’s everywhere. So it’s really easy to stay in touch with people that way.
What would you all be doing if you were not on the road, we kind of covered it earlier but you mentioned college, which was a subject I wanted to chat about, you were studying History right?
I’m nearly done I have twelve credits left so another semester.
Have you been studying on tour?
Yeah I was we were doing a tour in the states with Bane and Comeback Kid last spring it was a great tour. That was like eight weeks long full North-American tour and I was going to school online while I was on tour with them! I did a few years before we started touring and I’ve maintained it and when I’ve been home I’ll go do a class or like get some credit while I’m home. Eventually once things slow down again I’ll finish up
Have you got anything in mind that you want to do, post hardcore and the band?
I just want to teach I think
Have you been talking to any of the Stretch (Arm Strong) guys? (Some of them were teachers before the band became full time)
I’d love to teach and be involved somewhere where I can maintain my contact with the swing of scholarship and have an impact and also know what’s going on in terms of what’s being studied and the state of current thought.
That sounds interesting, what about all the other guys?
Jay (guitar) he already has a degree in English Literature, I don’t really know what the other guys want to do honestly I would hate to speak for them and be wrong. Everybody’s pretty mellow, none of us really have an easy time being away from home, all of us are more so in-tuned with friends and family, that kind of thing and what we would all be a part of, not doing this would be just enjoying other people’s company at home.
Everyone has a favourite place where’s yours and why?
I just like places for people, so home is obviously strong but there are a lot of cities I like in the states and I really like being out here just because of the historical feel. Like today we were just driving here and we went past Stonehenge, I mean no big deal in the sense that it’s a few rocks on a hill. But at the same time there is a lot of history in the states but its buried in the commercial expansion that like our government has brought on in the past three hundred years instead of celebrating its past and it’s kind of buried the native roots so you don’t walk down cobbled streets.
Did religion have any impact on you growing up?
I wasn’t brought up in a Christian background. It’s funny I’ve kind of become through philosophy and through history even the new wave of geological survey, I don’t know if your into science at all?
I actually work in the pathology department at my local hospital and I’m thinking of studying biomedical science…
There’s all this new scholarship supporting a young earth and re-examining fossils and dating. In the last four years & I’m a real nerd I realise, I’ve taken the somewhat Christian upbringing that I’ve had and have spent a lot of time studying eastern religion’s, paganism and traditional natural looks on faith, even agnostic
If you want any sort of view of something you need to…
Step back and view it all, even through I feel like I’m coming closer and closer to the Christian pole I’m definitely reading on both sides.
For me faith and any religion that you prescribe to is something you do for yourself it’s not something you have to go to a church or a synagogue for or you have to prove to anybody as long as you know in yourself your trying to live a good life and set an example for other people around you and try and be an influence then your doing the right thing. That’s my view of what Christianity is…We kind of covered straight edge but what are your sentiments towards it, you said you were involved but your not now?
We all feel differently, I think it’s awesome, there are a lot of places and a lot of people who I think abuse it & don’t really understand it as the personal freedom that in my mind it’s supposed to be and it’s really interesting in the last few months the recent touring I’ve been watching people from afar and people that I’ve known who were straight edge and very outspoken about there life choice, who’ve since decided not to be and have since subscribed to this self-deprecating abusive lifestyle and I don’t care whether your straight edge or not I guess it’s just disenchanting to look around and see people go off into the deep end.
Sad in a way because you grow close to these people, it was something that was really good for them and to just throw it all away and then start-doing drugs is a great shame.
Yeah I mean I look at straight edge nowadays and it may not resonate with me and it may not be like the chain that I wear on my neck, the thing that I prize and I value but I want to keep it special for anyone that doe’s. I don’t understand generally why someone would choose to abuse themselves.
There seems to be this whole anti-X-in up sentiment here at the moment and you said the scene was pretty big in the states? What have you observed at shows?
A few years ago there were a group of bands that were extremely aggressive to the point where I don’t respect it at all and I sense that a lot of the people that propagated that mentality have done that whole spin and not in any disrespect at all on those people as I believe in change, that people have the freedom to make decisions for themselves but it’s kind of sad that those things in the first place were of more of a vanity, or a fashion or a trend. Because regardless of whether one’s straight edge or not you go from living in a way that protects yourself and go to the opposite end of the spectrum
It seems almost fashionable that people look upon it as some sort of scourge, which is quite funny when you think about it and what it’s trying to do for people – release them from a self indulgent path to destruction, when I got into straight edge I used to suffer from depression. When I got into hardcore, the family and the music it engulfed me, so when I heard about straight edge it seemed so fucking hardcore and so out there it just seemed so cool. That’s what straight edge is to me something that you can’t touch, something that gives me faith. A source of pride.
In the states there’s all these weird things going down, like shirts with phrases on like “kill your local drug dealer” all these abusive things, if you want to be straight edge do it for yourself. I feel like so many people who decide not to be straight edge take so much abuse from people who called them friends, like when I say I believe in change and I believe people should be free I don’t think anyone should be disrespected because they decided to do this or to do that. They should be given trust and the option. There are a lot of kids I know that were very vocal about straight edge and maybe they decided that they were going to move on this way and were looking at the world differently and there are no two days that are the same. They’ve received so much ridicule from the “if your not now, you never word” crowd, all this funny circusey, childish behaviour and there are way more grey areas in this world than there are black & white and if we don’t allow each other grace and some sort of mercy as friends then what’s special? Be proud of the way you live and be proud of the way that who you are is not static, it’s not the same today & tomorrow. Thank god we have the potential to become greater than we were before. To endorse new ideals, to question them and to move on, refine everything we want to live by. I think that’s more so what I want to cherish about life, punk rock and hardcore and humanity in general.
What lyrical themes to you try to explore, they seem quite positive, there was a particular line that resonated with me from the song “Elevens” “I still believe that faith can move the mountains” hearing a line like that reminds me why I got into hardcore and despite the hypocrisy and some of the shit that happens within the scene, gives me strength. Faith definitely seems to be a reoccurring theme with you…
It’s that kind of stuff I believe that no matter what caste we are, where we come from and put ourselves into those are the building blocks of how to survive that I felt when the first time we played and someone responded. It was like at the back of it there was a point to who I could be, to who we can all be, with your website, energy with zines, setting up shows or caring for bands and allowing this community to work and beyond that. Wherever life takes you those are the sorts of things, nose to the grindstone, walk on mentality, the romance that I want to live my live with. That line and the few lines leading up to it are my favourite also. I think if there was a theme for the band trying to believe that in any circumstance or any hard spot or whatever adversity takes shape there is a point to believing that you are going to see the end and make it out on the other side, like what? Is the sun not going to rise in the morning? Of course it is and if were the only strand of humanity that sticks close to that, if we were the last ones, you and me I’d hope that like we can be a catalyst for each other to be that.
If nothing else what sort of message do you hope to convey to the hardcore kids that listen to your music?
That’s a very difficult question and I think it’s changed many times for the band. If there is one thing I could leave with anyone it’s just a message of acceptance, I feel like this world doe’s so much to pass us off and especially when you start to travel. It’s very hard to be an individual in this world given fashion, given commercialism, given capitalism, given the way modern western culture has decided to prey on our insecurities and tries to make us into a bunch of clones. I feel like if there was ever anything that we could do that would be valuable is to sort of celebrate the individual not for being distinct or for being so different or whatever but for feeling and to be able to look in the mirror and not hate what you see and to sort of learn and to grow and to ask questions. Spiritually. To ask yourself why you live the way that you do and to make decisions based on that for the sole purpose of knowing that you followed what you thought. Regardless. Being in a band can be very tense and very difficult, that people might expect something from or hope that I believe something or that I live a certain way. It’s nerve wracking, it’s scary and it’s a lot of pressure the way friends react to things and the way people will sell you out if they feel that you’re not doing what they want you to. To stick to your guns and to live punk rock and when it all comes down to your head on the pillow knowing that you lived your life honest and real to yourself and to value yourself.
Swindon Furnace
