Resolve
Hey guys rather than do an introduction ill be lazy & steal someone else’s quote to introduce you "someone went back to 1988/1989, grabbed a bunch of dudes from the Anthrax, brought them to modern times and started this fucking band." - Keith Alert. Crucial tunes for stagnant times any kid that truly loves youth crew could not fail not be won over Resolve and so with that in mind…
How did Resolve start up? How long have you all known each other & had you all been in bands before?
Mike: I’ll leave the origins of the band to the other guys, but I met the dudes in the band in 2005/early 2006 through my radio show and seeing them at shows, so really only a few months before I ended up joining the band. I guess they were kind of fed up with their singer at the time and knew I was one of the few straight edge kids in town so they decided to give me a shot at it. Resolve was the first band I’ve ever been in so they definitely took a gamble with me haha.
Davo: My brother Kevin and I were in a band called This Charade Is Over. That fell apart after a few years. We both always wanted to do a more late 80s-influenced straight edge band. TCIO already had a lot of that influence to begin with. Even a few riffs in early Resolve songs were later TCIO songs we played out like once. We weren't an Edge band though. I know it sounds pretty lame but I just wanted to do an Edge band. Resolve was already a band before TCIO broke up actually. I think for maybe a few months. I remember somebody saying they were covering Floorpunch. That already piqued my interest. I saw them play 2 shows. It was pretty terrible. Mainly the drumming is what killed it. The actual guy drumming was a very good drummer, but for some reason couldn't really do a decent fast beat. Not even the cheater beat the Chain of Strength type beat. I recall hearing a little later on that they were looking for a drummer. Even though I thought they weren't great I would give it a shot. So I talked to the guys and pretty much started practicing with them. After the first show with me on drums, Josh the singer at the time, actually kicked the bassist out, which gave my brother leeway to start playing bass. We put out our first demo that June of 2005 and later that summer we recorded for what was supposed to be our first 7". By the time we finished that recording though my brother and I had written 5 new songs (which 4 of them would later be on our debut 7", Yes the music for those songs are that old!). We felt they were better and started to drop a lot of the old stuff. Most of it was songs we recorded for the first 7". We just decided to put it out as a cassette tape. That would become Demo 2006 aka Where's Your Heart. Kel would join later on bass in Spring of 2006. Later that year around June I think it was we just had a falling out with Josh. Kevin and Ryan would end up kicking him out after we played a show with My Revenge. A few months prior we became good friends with Mike. He was straight edge and liked what we were into. So we asked him if he wanted to be our vocalist. We actually started practicing with him before we actually kicked Josh out. We kinda knew it would happen sometime or later. Ryan would later quit also. So yes there aren’t any original members in Resolve. But my brother and I played on all the recordings. I mean I think they are almost 2 different Resolves. We talked about not playing older stuff. We decided to still play a few selected songs, like the song Resolve that we recorded on our 2nd demo with Josh. We actually just rerecorded it on our LP. I think it's more to embrace our past. Like a tribute I guess you'd say.
So you were influenced by bands like Turning Point and Youth Of Today. What was it about those bands that inspired you? I’m a Judge and Floorpunch man myself;-)
Mike: We’re all huge fans of Judge and Floorpunch as well; really we just love straight edge youth crew hardcore in general. When Resolve started up there were very few bands playing that style and those who were seemed to be either playing the west coast style a la Uniform Choice or Chain of Strength or more of the 90s revival sound. We just wanted to play music inspired by our favorite bands and throw our own perspective and ideas into the mix. Youth of Today is my favorite band of all time so lyrically I draw a lot of inspiration from Ray’s words, but overall I think mostly we just want to try and emulate the intensity, energy, and urgency of their music as best we can. Musically, we feel that bands like Turning Point and Release kind of did their own thing and very few bands seem to try and play a sound similar to them, so basically we try and write music that recaptures that vibe.
Kevin: My favorite hardcore band is and will always be Judge. For influence, I am a big fan of the sound New Jersey bands had in the late 80s and earlier 90s. They seemed to have a darker sound to me and stood out more.
What sort of impression did the first hardcore show you went to leave on you? Did you feel like you were part of a scene from the start?
Mike: I grew up in Kentucky going to a Catholic school where I didn’t know anyone into hardcore or punk at all. In high school, I listened to a lot of metal and through the internet I kind of discovered hardcore on my own. I was kind of a late bloomer in terms of going to shows since I didn’t really get exposed to the true DIY side of hardcore until I was about 18. My first “hardcore” shows were when I saw Hatebreed at some radio fest when I was 16 and then Krazy Fest in Louisville a few months later, but both of those were big concerts that didn’t have that smaller, DIY feel to them. I honestly can’t remember my first real hardcore show since I kind of transitioned from metalcore into hardcore, but I remember being drawn in by the intimacy of the music, the energy and passion that the bands played with, and the fact that (some of) the bands actually stood for something. I’m pretty shy so it took me awhile to get to know people in the scene and make friends, so I didn’t really feel like I was part of it from the start.
Kevin: After the first show I went to I didn’t feel like I was part of the scene at all. It wasn’t till I started going to more shows, starting bands, and just helping out all together that I felt I was a part of something more.
Did you all grow up in St. Louis? (Which according to my goggle search is in Missouri known as ‘the gateway to the west’ and was apparently named for king Louis IV of France ) What is it like living there and if I were to visit what would it have to offer me of interest?
Mike: I was born there but moved away when I was two years old. I returned for college so I probably don’t know the city as well as the other guys. I personally think St. Louis is a great city with lots of fun things to do – free museums and zoo, Forest Park, Cards games at Busch Stadium (with vegan burgers to boot!), City Museum (the best playground for adults ever), Lemongrass and Shangr-La Diner if you’re looking for good vegan food, and probably a lot of other stuff I’m forgetting. Its downtown is pretty lackluster and certainly doesn’t have as much to offer as bigger cities like Chicago, but overall I enjoyed living there.
Kevin: I’m from Granite City, IL, which is 15 mins from St. Louis. Honestly didn’t really start going to St. Louis till I was 16. My parents really didn’t like the city too much.
What’s the local scene like and is it quite supportive of hardcore bands?
Mike: I can’t speak for things as of now since I moved away last fall, but when I was there the scene wasn’t that great. Unless a huge band on Bride 9 or something came through, most shows were lucky to get 20 kids come out, and venues were hard to come by. With the exception of a handful of people, nobody in St. Louis ever seemed to care about us, but we started to get better responses the last few local shows we played, so maybe things are changing.
How would you describe a typical xResolvex show? What sort of feeling and experiences do you get from playing live?
Mike: We always try to give as much energy as we can to our live show. We know that a lot of people aren’t fans of youth crew hardcore, so even if they aren’t fans of us musically, we at least hope they walk away from our shows impressed with our level of intensity and energy. Personally, I’m a pretty quiet, laid back guy in general, so I use Resolve shows as a sort of cathartic experience to get out all the aggressions I feel in my everyday life. I try not to give off negative energy though; I still want our shows to be a positive experience, but we don’t want them to be boring or anything either. Really I just like being able to connect with people, either musically or through the ideas we sing about, and try to make a point to discuss our songs without sounding preachy or anything. That’s my goal at least, I don’t know if I come across like that or not. The main thing is I just want people to have fun during our set.
I always loved the DIY ethic behind hardcore from the music to creativity in shirt designs to the art work or booking tours its all about heartfelt emotion and trying to capture that, was that something that appealed to you and do you all contribute towards organizing the direction xresolvex goes?
Mike: We’ve always tried to keep things as DIY as possible with Resolve. We book our own tours without guarantees, designed almost all of our merch ourselves, even printed a lot of it ourselves as well. None of us are very skilled artistically so we have had a little help in that department (thanks Ram and Slaba!). I feel like we all contribute to the direction Resolve goes and everyone has their say in what we do.
Hardcore seems to be getting ever more popular and accessible all the time, do you see this as a good thing for the scene, as positive growth or do you feel that the over-saturation of bands that profess to be ‘hardcore’ just sound like people buying into trends?
Mike: I can’t say that I’m against more people getting into hardcore, because I think that it has certainly helped shape my life for the better and I wouldn’t want to prevent other kids from experiencing that. However, I do feel like the vast majority of people will never truly get what hardcore is about, and I never want to see it lose all its meaning and turn into something all the cool kids in school get into. I hope it stays a place where kids who don’t fit in anywhere else can feel like they belong, without getting bullied or made fun of, and a place where alternative ideas and lifestyles are welcomed. In terms of hardcore becoming oversaturated with bands, I feel like it just makes people have to look harder for the ones in it for the right reasons and making music worth listening to. There are so many bands out right now that I couldn’t care less about, but when you find that one band that you can really connect with, it makes it that much more meaningful.
Hardcore has evolved so much over the years so what issues cause you concern the most?
Mike: This has probably been going on for a long while now, but one of the things that concerns me most about hardcore these days is the number of bands with huge guarantees, contracts, riders, and bringing big business into the scene. I understand that for some larger bands guarantees might be a necessary evil, but in general I feel like too much of hardcore is focused on the money or fame and not the music. Another thing, and not that I have much room to talk since I’ve only been in the scene for a relatively short time, but I get bummed out when kids refuse to listen to older bands or check out the roots of hardcore. I don’t think people should live in the past per se since there are tons of reasons to get stoked on current hardcore, but to completely disregard the bands who helped shape hardcore into what is it today is doing a great disservice to yourself. Also bands need to play faster.
How long have you been vegan Mike and are Revolve as a band vegan or vegetarian or is the common bond between you the straight edge? These issues are obviously important focus points for you lyrically…
Mike: I became vegetarian in January of 05 and went the extra step to veganism in September of that year. I’m the only vegan member, but everyone in the band has been vegetarian at some point and supports animal rights in general. I wouldn’t say we identify as a vegetarian or vegan band, but veganism is a very important part of my life and definitely influences how I look at life and the way I write lyrics. But to answer your question, straight edge would be our common bond I guess.
Can you remember when you first heard about straight edge and what you felt towards the idea at that time?
Mike: Through high school I drank and smoked weed occasionally, but it was never really something that I felt was right for me. As I started to get more into running and staying in shape, I felt even stronger that drugs and alcohol had no place in my life and I wanted nothing to do with them. Around the same time, when I was 17 or so, I started noticing shirts with “straight edge” on them (probably by bands like Throwdown), and decided to research it myself and figure out what it was. From there, I went to my local record store and picked up Minor Threat’s discography which forever changed my life. I can still remember getting goosebumps when I first heard those songs and feeling like Ian MacKaye was speaking directly to me.
Kevin: When I was in middle school I would drink and smoke weed. Never went any further than that. I didn’t feel like me doing it, so I quit. About a year later my brother, Davo, was showing me these bands he had been listening to. One of these albums was Strife’s One Truth. He told me what straight edge was and he kept showing me more bands. Soon I was looking up bands myself and went off from there.
Davo: Honestly I heard about straight edge through Glassjaw, which I would later hear their cover of Youth of Today's Modern Love Story with Ray Cappo. The rest is history. Strife's One Truth was also one of the first Hardcore albums I ever bought. I credit them just as much or maybe even more as say Minor Threat into really getting me into straight edge. The album still gets me so stoked.
Was it something you identified with straight away?
Mike: Most definitely, although at the time, I didn’t know anyone who was into hardcore or straight edge, so I didn’t actually claim edge until a year later when I moved to St. Louis. Also hearing about straight edge and Minor Threat influenced me to check out more straight edge bands like Gorilla Biscuits and Youth of Today, which again had a huge impact on me and led me into becoming vegetarian.
Kevin: I connected quickly with the lyrics. Knowing that I wasn’t alone was kind of reassuring.
What’s the deal with the crew / gang mentality in the American hardcore scene at the moment? We don’t have that kind of thing generally in Europe , but it seems quite prominent in the States?
Mike: I feel like a lot of the talk about crews and gangs is overblown, at least from my experience. Personally I’ve never had any run-ins with crews at shows or witnessed any violence at the hands of one. I’m sure they are more prevalent in bigger cities, but nowadays they just seem to be a big group of friends more than anything else. I don’t really see the point in them but they don’t really impact my life in any way so they don’t really bother me.
When did that sort of thing start sweeping through the scene? When I first got into hardcore most bands spoke out against that sort of activity through there songs it seems like we went from healthy scene to scene rivalries to brawling in a short space of time and I think its important to remember that bands always used to speak out against fighting at shows!
Mike: Yeah, there were a group of kids in St. Louis who liked to act tough and fight at shows, which resulted in venues getting shut down or refusing to book hardcore shows anymore. I wrote a song for our new LP called “Won’t Stand By” which is about just that. I’m definitely a nonviolent person, and I might not be able to stop other forms of violence, whether they be wars, domestic abuse, against animals, etc., but I can and will do whatever I can to keep violence out of the scene I call home. But to answer your question, I think a lot of crews like FSU originally developed to keep neo-Nazis out of the scene which is something I can back.
Tell me about the new record then is it an action packed sing-a-long that I can mosh my heart out too? Are you all happy with the finished recording & Who are you getting to release it? (Will there be a CD version available?)
Mike: I know every band says this, but I honestly think our new LP is our best work yet and I am very excited to get it released. We haven't totally changed our style or anything, but the mosh is harder and hopefully there are more parts for kids to sing along to. The songs on our 7” were the first ones I had ever written lyrics for and the first time I recorded in a studio. We were kind of rushed so I basically just yelled all the songs in one take and in the end I wasn’t very happy with the final product, both in terms of sound and lyrics. Not to discredit that record or anything; I’m still very proud of it and there are quite a few songs on there that I still love to play live. With our new record though, I think we spent more time fine-tuning the sound we wanted to have, and Pete at Bricktop did a great job of helping us achieve what we set out for. Also, I feel like I finally found my voice with this record and the vocals and lyrics fit the music a lot better. We’re currently in the process of sending songs out to labels right now, so I’m not sure who is going to put out, but hopefully it will be released in the next few months. We definitely want it released on vinyl, but aren’t opposed to putting it out on CD as well if a label would be willing to do that.
I notice kids are still trading tapes despite it being 2009 haha, do you think there will come a time when tapes or vinyl start going out of fashion in hardcore or will the die-hard youth crew kids still be talking about ’88 in twenty years time?
Mike: I hope tapes and vinyl never leave hardcore! They might be dated to most people but I still love the sound of both and to me they feel like more legitimate of a release than a flimsy piece of plastic.
Speaking of oldschool original Nintendo or the Megadrive and why?
Mike: I wasn’t sure what Megadrive was, but a quick Google search informed that that is the U.S. equivalent to the Sega Genesis. As a kid, I had a NES and then bought a Sega Genesis after that (never had a Super Nintendo), so I’m partial to both, but I’m going to have to give the edge to Nintendo. That was the first system I started playing video games on and the one that got hooked on video games in general. Also that system released so many classic games that I can’t help but pick it.
Kevin: For me that is a tough one but I’ll have to go with NES with Genesis (Megadrive) in close second. I spent hours every night playing Punch-Out and Super Mario Bros 1 and 3. I still can’t stop playing those games today. Genesis did have some great games; Robocop vs. The Terminator was one of my favorites.
Davo: Nintendo all the way. The Genesis did rule though. I miss Sega consoles. The Dreamcast ruled! Screw the haters. Also did you know in Japan the Nintendo and Super Nintendo were referred to as the Famicom and Super Famicom.
Pick 5 bands, it can span all of the past three decades who would play your ultimate show?
Mike: I’m just going to go with my five all time favorite bands: Youth of Today, Jawbreaker, Minor Threat, Turning Point, and Judge. I know Jawbreaker would be out of place on that show but I would kill to see all of those bands in their prime. Trial might have been on there but I recently saw them at Burning Fight so I’ll stick to my list. Fuck I’d really like to see Outspoken as well; 5 bands is tough.
Kevin: Judge, Youth of Today, Turning Point, Ten Yard Fight, and Release.
Davo: Is it just Hardcore bands?? If so I choose Turning Point, Judge, Youth of Today, Release, and Bad Brains. If not I choose Iron Maiden, Iron Maiden, Iron Maiden, Iron Maiden, and Iron Maiden.
What do you all do outside of the band do you work or are you involved with education? What sorts of hobbies do you have?
Mike: I graduated college last year with a degree in marketing, have worked a couple of jobs since then, and am currently trying to become a high school math teacher although I’m unemployed at the present. In my free time I like to go running, read, listen to music, bike, cook food, and relax with my girlfriend and pets. Such an exciting life I know hahaha.
Kevin: Outside of hardcore, I work at a TV repair shop as an assistant manager. I’m also a huge wrestling nerd. I can talk about wrestling for hours. Lately I have been trying to go bike riding everyday.
Davo: I work at a Hospital. I also play tons of video games. My bro and I own just about every major video game console except the Sega Master System. We even have an Atari 2600. I also try to ride my bike a lot.
If there are any major oversights on my part or final words you wish to impart please insert here!
Mike: Thanks for the interview, I really enjoyed answering the questions! Be on the lookout for our new LP in the next few months, and if you live on the east coast of the U.S., check us on tour this summer. We're hoping to make it over to Europe next year but we'll see how that goes.
Thanks for the interview and take care
