Desert Dweller Day 1 Recap

 Last weekend was Desert Dweller Fest, a hardcore festival based out of Tucson Arizona showcasing AZHC as well as keeping the memory of indigenous people alive. It was a fest put on by Matt Marcum, and was quite a blast. The festival has been going for 3 years, and has gotten better and better. The line up for this years was as follows:
Day 1:
Concrete Evidence
Penalty Box
Summerhead
Easy Money
Troubled
Slowbleed
Absence of Mine
Drain
The Beautiful Ones

Most of this bill were AZHC or adjacent bands with Slowbleed and Drain being the only non-AZ based bands of the day. This, however, didn’t deter any energy from being spent on each bands set. Every band showed out, and put on hard for the scene and for the locals. The crowd was involved as well with dancers and moshers being strongly prevalent in and out of the pit. During sets like Concrete Evidence, Penalty Box, Easy Money, Absence of Mine, Slowbleed, Drain, and of course the one and only The Beautiful Ones; kids were dancing moving, nodding, and singing along.

This festival was something unique, in my opinion, as it was mostly local and in a small and intimate setting. It was truly an eye opening experience that showed me just how alive local scenes can be when cared about, and cultivated through positive influence and continual support. I saw a large sense of community, and felt it as well when discussing hardcore, and talking about music with like minded individuals. Never have a felt more engrossed in such a diverse community or more surrounded by a group of people that I admire for standing against something and professing their feeling and ideals in music.

Concrete Evidence played first, and had a great sound, the volumes were solid with each instrument equally distributed sonically. There was never a feeling of one element overpowering another. This band has a solid metallic tinge, with heavy hardcore influences. It draws my mind in particular to bands like Bent Life and a mix of fast punk.

Penalty Box was another great set, one that was fun to watch and also had good energy from the band. This bands sound is an interesting mix of beat down vocals with youthcrew energy and guitar parts. But it is a beautiful mix because it creates a vibe of fun and enjoyment. This band has sounds similar to Youth of Today, Judge, Ten Yard Fight, Skarhead, and Buried Alive. The latter of the bands being more in reference to vocals.

Slowbleed played a little later in the evening and absolute destroyed the place. Moshers and dancers were everywhere. The band had strong stage presence and was able to keep the crowd well involved without sacrificing sound or quality. The volumes were well balanced and were not a burden on the ears.

The Beautiful Ones headlined and absolutely crushed it! The place was well packed and the crowd was well involved with keeping the energy levels high. TBO really kept the spirit of AZHC alive and showing that Tucson is still a scene to behold.

Every band put on a great show, these are the bands from the first night that I feel had a great impact and are worth looking into. But most of all every single band had great energy and did an amazing job at showing what hardcore is and what’s it’s about. Community, and positive outlets for negative surroundings.

Follow and listen to the bands here:

Concrete Evidence: https://concreteevidenceaz.bandcamp.com/releases
Penalty Box: https://penaltyboxhc.bandcamp.com/
Summerhead: https://summerheadmusic.bandcamp.com/
Easy Money: https://easymoneyhc.bandcamp.com/
Troubled: https://troubledaz.bandcamp.com/
Slowbleed: https://slowbleedca.bandcamp.com/
Absence of Mine: https://absenceofmine.bandcamp.com/
DRAIN: https://drain831.bandcamp.com/
The Beautiful Ones: https://beautifulcru.bandcamp.com/releases

K//L Different Shade of Blue Tour Recap.

Tuesday the Different Shade of Blue tour came through Mesa AZ. Seeyouspacecowboy, Candy, Rotting Out, Stick to Your Guns, and Knocked Loose all played. Unfortunately I was unable to finish the night due to scheduling issues the following day. However I was able to see the three bands I was most eager to see. Seeyouspacecowboy, Candy, and Rotting Out. The first I have never had the opportunity to see.
Seeyouspacecowboy got strong response for being the first band up, and there were moshers and dancers from the beginning to the end of the set. I was not at all surprised at the energy of the band onstage as they have quickly become
heavily discussed in hardcore and metalcore. The bands performance was tight, the chemistry amongst members was clear, and it seemed that everyone was having a blast on and offstage.

Candys set was fun and energetic as well. I actually hadn’t seen the vocalist perform since he was in the band malfunction. I was thoroughly impressed with each of the songs the band played their encouragement to the crowd to get rowdy, and most of all their patience with the venue. The only issue I noticed during their set was due to having mic issues. Through, what seemed to be, the entire set the vocals we drowned out by every other instrument because the volumes were not checked properly, or the mic wasn’t working. It was clearly mixed of both. But the issues went almost unnoticed, as it were, by the crowd as dancing ensued by some of the patrons during each song. Thankfully, the mic issues were somewhat resolved about ¾ of the way through the set and vocals became easier to hear along with the rest of the volumes being less of a competition and more of a collection of musical chaos. I thoroughly enjoyed Candys set, and hope to see them play Arizona again soon.

Rotting out was an all out blast! From start to finish. The set was filled with so much energy it was palpable. Except for a few minutes in which a stage diving mishap occurred, every second of their set was a party. Stage dives, moshers, dancers, and friends were just having fun. For 30 minutes aggression, frustration, isolation, and negativity melted away in the lyrics of a band that hadn’t played in AZ in years. The sound issues and mic problems seemed to be resolved which was another great plus especially for a band as unique, and cherished as this in AZ. I have not much more to say aside from the fact that I’ve never felt or seen such a strong showing of hardcore pride as there was in the Nile Theater that night.

Unfortunately I missed the Stick to Your Guns and Knocked Loose sets due to my own schedule conflicting with my ability to see them. However, from what I’ve heard and seen both bands were well received and Knocked Loose always puts on a strong show.

More than anything, I believe that hardcore lives on and is going strong. It may not be the same sounds that many prefer or are used to, but the ethos, mindset, reason for the music, and desires are still holding strong to what it meant at the inception of hardcore into the creative community.

Disclaimer:
   Both Videos and the Photo are not my creative property I do not own them. 197 Media and Hate5Six own the rights to the videos. The photograph also does not belong to me, Photographer is Unknown.

Face the Truth

Heading back to Boise, Idaho for this interview, I was given the chance to speak with Rejection Pact. What a great experience from some really solid dudes. We discussed music, books, movies, and humanity in general.

The band released a record from Safe Inside Records titled Threats of the World. They’ve been on tour a little bit and have some plans coming down the pike- so keep your eyes and ears open.

Here’s a bit of what we talked about.

You recently released a new record, did you find the writing process difficult at all?

“Honestly, everything came together very quickly in terms of writing. We were writing 1-2 songs a practice. It helped that we had written almost 10 songs before the demo came out and we used a few for the record too. So, basically, the whole thing was pretty fun and painless. Ralph & Charlie have been playing music together for like 6 years so those two are dialed in which helps a ton.

The most difficult process was probably coming up with song titles or getting vocal patterns down, and even then, that wasn’t really difficult either.”

We discussed the band’s interests musically and what wells they drew from in order to write this record. To me the sound is true-to-form old-school hardcore, but with a modern and fresh twist of fun.

Your sound feels familiar, but fresh at the same time. How would describe your sound and what influences do you cite?

“I’d describe our sound as hardcore. I think it’s very traditional sounding in the most basic sense. It’s fast, the songs are short, the lyrics are pretty straight forward, and there’s some mosh parts.
To go deeper, I’d say it sounds like mid 2000’s hardcore that you’d find when looking at the earlier B9 roaster, Rivalry Records, or if you’re going a tad more current, REACT Records.

I mean we all have individual influences and often. After we’d write a song, the comparisons we make def vary from member to member, but as a whole, some major influences are bands like Go It Alone, American Nightmare, Allegiance, Paint it Black, Mindset, older Trash Talk & Ceremony.

There’s also a low key nod to Fat Wreck/Epitaph punk in there, but nothing too prominent.”

I found this to be an extremely apt acknowledgment of who the band finds influential. Each one of these bands can be heard distinctly in the sound. My favorite and immediate first thought was Ceremony. I also heard a bit of Better Than a Thousand, which was really cool.

Rejection Pact has done some pretty good touring as well, hitting the west coast. The band mentioned they may be trying to get a bit further out soon too.

This is what the band had to say specifically about touring.

You’ve already done some touring, what’s been the best parts of touring?

“Best parts are playing shows and seeing people interact with the music you wrote and any positive feedback or energy that is the result of something you created is very cool. Trying new food and hitting local spots in the area you’re playing is always rad; some members of the band are vegan and Boise isn’t the most vegan friendly area so getting lots of vegan food is a big tour highlight. Also, just being stuck in the van and going insane and listening to hours and hours of prank calls and talking shit to each other and sharing really stupid stories and crap is always fun.”

I find it really cool that bands such as this put on for locals too, not just their own area. Rejection Pact seems to be students of hardcore and it’s ethos. They’re not just individuals enamoured with the myth of what it meant.

Part of being in hardcore is uniting around the message of standing against a society that rejects decency, care, and recognizing differences are good. The guys in this band are much the same, and their message is too.

What message or goal do you have for your music as a band? What do you hope listeners to gain most from your lyrics and music?

“The only real goal we have for our music is for it to resonate with people, and hopefully it clicks, which can allow us to play cool shows and meet new people and play new areas…We hope listeners just challenge themselves as well as their surroundings. There’s a lot of awful things happening in the world, and the first thing we need to do is think.”

What is the central theme behind Threats of the World?

“People. They’re our greatest resource but also our greatest threat...there’s a couple introspective songs but even then [these songs] deal with yourself...you’re a human..there ya go.”

The band put out a release titled Threats of the World through Safe Inside Records. It’s a 10 song effort coming in at about 13 minutes. Each song is a fast paced, mosh and dance driven powerhouse. The guitar and bass lead the song through an onslaught of riffs and thrashy punk lines that can’t be ignored. This is coupled with a traditional punk beat, fast and loud. The vocals are harsh and in your face, shouting a message of anger, frustration, and change that just can’t be ignored. Overall, each element of this record is fun and purely enjoyable. I firmly enjoyed listening to it, and honestly, when the album was finished, I spun it again. I recommend anyone and everyone give this a listen. It’s a positive and enjoyable throwback to early hardcore, but gives sufficient nods to modern and mid-2000’s hardcore and punk as well. 5/5.

The band recommends that people listen, read, and watch the following as well:

What books, movies, music, or documentaries have you recently enjoyed that you think people should check out?

Musically, everyone should check out:

• Webbed Wing “Bike Ride Across the Moon”
• Sect “Blood of the Beasts”
• Lurk “Electro-Shock” 
• RJC “Institution” 
• Result of Choice “Place of My Dreams”
• Shallow End “Urban Decay”
• Some new Idaho hc releases like the State of Suffering summer promo, the Stalemate demo, and the new Ingrown single 
• Some new demos that rules are Love & Trust, Headcount, and Outnumbered 

Charlie’s been reading some books like Confessions of an Eco-Warrior by Dave Foreman. He watched a pretty interesting documentary the other day about people who are in romantic relationships with their automobiles, that was something. Movie wise, Ad Astra kicked ass, Little Woods is def worth a watch, The Peanut Butter Falcon, The Art of Self Defense, and Joker rocked.

Follow the Band on Social Media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RejectionPact

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rejectionpact/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RejectionPact?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Give them a listen on bandcamp
https://safeinsiderecords.bandcamp.com/album/rejection-pact-threats-of-the-world 

LETS GO APE $HIT!

Many people wouldn’t associate Hardcore with Salt Lake City, I know I didn’t. However, I had an amazing opportunity to chat with and learn from some of the members of Ape $hit, an SLCHC band. All of which are students of the game. In our chat I learned about the bands interests, sound, progression of style, and they educated me a bit in the history of Salt Lakes punk and hardcore roots.

Here’s a little bit of what we discussed.

Having previously established somewhat of a sound, what caused the change? Follow up: in transitioning your sound, it sounds similar to early 00’s heavy hardcore and some beat down. What influences are you pulling from?

"Ape $hit started off as five members consisting of Tyson Bowles on vocals, Chase Watts on guitar/backing vocals, “Nezzie” Newton on guitar, Ryan Heidt on bass/backing vocals, and Matthew Lloyd on drums.  Ape $hit was the precursor to another band, Witchtrial, consisting of the same members on the same instruments playing more metallic hardcore (in the vein of Axis). The intent was to have two separate bands with two completely different sounds to play separate shows where our individual sounds would match one bill a little better than the other or to compile both bands on a bill and gear share.

After we put Ape $hit on the backburner to focus on Witchtrial, the lineup changed.  Both Nezzie and Ryan left Ape $hit, leaving the band to decide whether or not we wanted to find new members to continue on or not.  We soon added members Johan Gutierrez and Kason Bowles (Tyson’s brother). Our local scene has little interest in punkier hardcore bands and tends to lean towards more metal/heavy bands.  The incentive was to maintain the punk factor while adding elements of NYHC groove and early 2000’s beatdown to breathe new life into our songs."

We also discussed the existence of a hardcore scene in a state and city like Salt Lake City Utah, and how well the scene is. The band mentions bands like iceburn, insight, lifeless, xclearx, and decontaminate plus many others. They discuss having waves of interest and growth in hardcore, while also having not such much in other periods. However, the band states very confidently that SLCHC is alive and well. What I found most interesting was the existence of this growth in such a predominantly Mormon (LDS) area, but from what I’ve learned and the band has mentioned, the area has a strong existence of hardcore with new growth coming consistently

We talked about messages and what the band hopes to accomplish with its music. Their answer, support the local scene.

“We aren’t a serious band by any means.  The only message we’ve ever wanted to get across is to support your local scene (not just the “cool” kids for scene points), support all bands, welcome fresh faces into our community, and watch out for not just your friends, but everyone in our scene.”

When asked what they’re politics are, or what they believe hardcore bands and politics have to do with each other, the answer was succinct and clear. Hardcore is typically left leaning, political climate changes constantly and bands are being formed to discuss that, but Ape $hit isn’t here to swing the political stick. Instead the band had this to say,

“Ape $hit is fairly apolitical and falls more into the category of fun punk that brings bouncy balls to shows and is a general nuisance for 10-15 minutes.”

The crowning point was that we touched on the most recent release as well, something that I was looking forward to after hearing their Summer Tape ‘19.

Your Bandcamp has three of your four members doing vocals, do you ever find it difficult determining parts?

"Not at all.  It’s a democracy on who wants to do what parts with additional suggestions by the members of the band who have prior vocal experience over their time playing in bands.  Advice is given as well as taken."

We also spoke on influences from the summer tape and what the band wanted people to hear in the new record. The band stated that they each had specific and different styles of hardcore they loved. Some members like early 00’s beatdown style NYHC referencing Billy Club Sandwich, Everybody Gets Hurt and then some ignorant heavy bands as well as punk and power violence style bands as well. The bands members all are students of hardcore and have a profound respect and love for it. Most importantly they are working on building their scene.

I would also like to discuss my thoughts on the new release. It has three tracks; Pretty Neat, Ape $hit 2, and Baaaaad Attitude. I think this three song promo is very much a promising sign of strength and musical aptitude for the band. Pretty Neat opens with a sound bite that then leads into a decently groove laden guitar rhythm. The lyrics, drums, and vocal mixing were all done well. Each instrument and part is distributed sonicaly so as to avoid one part being overpowered by another. Ape $hit is just an all around fun song, it’s fun from the start with the gang vocals to the ending mosh part. In fact, the whole song is just absolute mosh. It’s upbeat, groovy, and aggressive. It’s all just wonderfully nostalgic while feeling fresh as well. That leads to Baaaaad Attitude, the closing number of this tape. This is just pure anger and aggression. It’s full of anger, but also invokes head nodding as well as some serious ass beating style music breaks. Overall I love this record. It brings me joy that something like this band exists, and is so dedicated to just full blown fun hardcore. I would absolutely recommend anyone check out the band and spend the time to see them if the opportunity arises!

Follow them!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apeshithc

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ApeShitHC 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apeshithc/

Toss them some money for merch and music!

Bandcamp: https://apeshithc.bandcamp.com/music