Madball, a New York traditional Hardcore band, has been around since the late 1980s and many consider the band Hardcore’s modern forefather. Madball is currently preparing for the 10 for $10 Tour that begins in July. YPA’s ilana Engel spoke with Freddy Cricien about the upcoming tour, the state of the world, and the band’s history.
Q: What gets you psyched about the 10 for $10 tour?
A: Not every band on the tour is traditionally Hardcore but they are, in some way, linked to Hardcore. All the bands on tour are great at what they do. Combining these bands and doing something like this for the quality of the music and for the cheap tickets, I think it’s a great way to re-instill a lost faith in people interested in Hardcore. Not that we should have to do that. People are hurt right now in the pocket. It’s not just some show, or random 10 bands. You are getting veterans. Some are up-and-comers but you are getting quality music. There is a mixture of styles but the idea of the tour and the concept is very Hardcore in its mentality–the bands, the clubs and especially the price you pay. I think the point of doing this is, obviously, to get great bands together but also to get different crowds together. Not every Bane kid likes Madball and vice versa. Not every Poison the Well kid may even be aware of what traditional Hardcore music is. You get to bring all these people together to learn something and to appreciate it.
What’s your perception of the hardcore scene today? How does it feel to watch this scene grow and still be considered fairly “underground”?
On a worldwide scale, the Hardcore music scene is bigger and better, especially for a genre that’s still so underground. At the same time, that being said, I think it’s a little underappreciated in general. Many people still aren’t aware of the genre known as Hardcore. Of the people that are aware of Hardcore and want to be involved, many don’t go to shows. The attendance is really low right now buts that’s [true with] all alternative music in general. Hardcore—a genre as small as it is—really suffers the most in a situation like that. In the US especially, there’s a bit of fickleness going on. Hopefully that will pass.
Madball has been around way before the hardcore scene hit the internet by storm. With all these new websites and message boards and “social” media popping up, what’s it like for Madball to be on a bigger more globally accessible scale?
Technology has made it more accessible. Before, the only way the word could be spread would be through bands going on tour. Now we have Myspace and everything else so that definitely helps. I’m not opposed to any of that. It’s been nothing but beneficial to our band, and the whole movement in general. Still, there is a lack of participation. Kids want to go on Myspace, go online. They want to listen to Madball online but they still won’t go to shows, and that’s where the real fun is. Madball is respected for our style and what we’ve contributed to Hardcore. Where we shine is our live shows, it’s what we are really known for.
Do you think Hardcore is loosing that kind of essence that Madball’s music brings to the table? That maybe the scene has been kind of watered down by the same old thing, just with a different band name attached?
I don’t know if it’s lost its essence. I think there are key bands that were the forefathers of the Hardcore scene, and especially the New York scene, and most of them are still around today. Agnostic Front is a great example. We come from that– Madball, Sick of It All, H2O. There are still bands that keep the essence of Hardcore intact. There are numerous others.
A lot of us have siblings, but few of us have siblings like Roger from Agnostic Front. What’s it like having Roger as a big brother?
I never thought of him as a legend or a big deal. I’ve known him my whole life, since I was born. It just so happens that he was part of Hardcore history with Agnostic Front, being as significant as they are in Hardcore world. It was just a part of my life. I was glad I was there to be a part of it and then, eventually, be involved. When it comes to Madball, he was a big part of what I do with Madball. Outside of the music stuff, he is just my big brother. Roger is 11 or 12 years older than me … so yeah, I look up to him, but as a sibling I also found my own way. And that is what I did with Madball.
I’ve seen and heard a lot about DMS [Editors Note: there is some discussion what the acroynmn stands for. Drugs, Money Sex, Demonstrating My Style, Dropping Many Suckas, and more recently Dirty Money Syndicate]. I know that Agnostic Front, Vietnom, Danny Diablo and half of the hardcore and punk scene are a part of DMS. Who is involved today and what was its purpose?
The purpose today is to preserve these friendships. I could talk for hours and hours about it, But for a quick answer: It’s a brotherhood of people, musicians, producers, guys that were friends before they were doing music and now we are all in bands or doing other things. It’s all positive. People always want to focus on the negative … the rumors, the negative part of our history. It is what it is. It was born in the streets. A bunch of street kids and kids from all over that came together and met through music. But, ultimately, the goal is nurture our friendships.
This is a little off topic, but we got a lot of questions from YPA readers and Twitter, so we’re going to ask you a few of those if that’s okay. You were arrested and placed in prison at one point, putting Madball on hiatus from touring and performing for a few months. Can you tell us about that?
That was some years back. It was in 2000 when it happened. I caught up in some things. The charge was attempted criminal possession of a weapon. They found the weapon. No one ended up getting hurt, which is a good thing. But I did get into trouble and I ended up being incarcerated for six months and being on probation for five years. It could have been a lot worse. I luckily had a good lawyer. Of course, part of me regrets it. But part of me doesn’t because I lived through it and learned from it. I keep moving forward. It didn’t stop me. I was living a reckless, wild and self-destructive lifestyle back then but I’ve changed a lot. I don’t live like that now. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to have all these endeavors like my hip-hop project, Madball and everthing else.
Another one we had come up a lot for some reason was how many times have you been stabbed?
Wow, you really get down to the nitty-gritty. None of this is a big secret so I have no problem answering any of it. One time it happened when I was 17 or 18 and it was with a knife. It was a street fight. What started out as an argument and a fistfight escalated to me getting stabbed in the back. It was a close call. It could have been fatal but it didn’t penetrate any organs. But my friend wasn’t so lucky. The knife punctured his lung and [he] was worse off than me. But he recovered eventually. The same month 10 years later, I got into another fight and some thug didn’t feel confident enough to fight with his hands so he broke a bottle and started jabbing it around. That one was worse than the first time because it was millimeters away from my main artery [the main artery near the human heart]. I was just baffled how close it came to becoming a fatal injury. It takes seconds, maybe a minute for a carotid artery [the main artery near the human heart] to bleed out. I guess it’s life. You are in certain environments and it happens sometimes. I didn’t necessarily instigate that situation. I lived through it.
With the emergence of all kinds of subcultures in the 1980s, what exactly was it that clicked with you and Hardcore?
That’s a good question because I’m a big fan of hip-hop and all kinds of music. I’ve always loved all music and I grew up that way. I’m still that way today. What drew me to Hardcore was my brother, to be honest. I was fortunate that my brother was a big part of the Hardcore scene. I was directly introduced to the genre through him and I embraced it. I liked the rebellious attitude. But at the same time I was getting into Hardcore, I was listening to Hip-hop and all kinds of music.
Have you ever considered entering the world of Hip-hop?
I have a solo Hip-hop project [Freddy Madball and DJ Stress] that I’m finishing up right now. I’m going by ‘Freddy Madball’ because in this stage in the game in regards to the music world I’m referred to as ‘Freddy Madball’ amongst Hip-hop guys, amongst metal heads, amongst punk guys. I figured I should stick to that. I wasn’t going to try to create another character for myself. I am who I am. There are many sides to me. I listen to everything and I would encourage everyone else to do the same. It doesn’t make you any less Hardcore or any less Hip-hop.
So what do you get into when you’re not touring?
When I’m not in Madball I’m working on my Freddy Madball and DJ Stress Project. I’m finally going to finish that and I’m excited to put it out so people can hear it. I put together shows and events through a company called Black & Blue Productions. I also manage a couple of bands. I stay pretty busy even if I’m at home. When I’m not doing Madball I’m active in music. Music is what I’ve invested a great part of my life in.
What does everyone else in the band do?
Awwww…they sit around and do nothing. They’re lazy. Naw, everyone has something. They write when they’re home. We take up side jobs when we can.
Tell me about your time in Florida. Were you into the local scene?,
Yeah, I lived there multiple times when I was young. I lived in South Florida near the Hollywood area. I wasn’t really active in the scene down there even though there was an active one. I was somewhere between five and 15 years old. I was more active in what was going on in New York at the time. When I would come up to Jersey to see my brother I would get involved with the scene there. So I wasn’t involved with the Florida scene unless my brother was coming through town to play a show.
You’re quite popular with the Hispanic community and have even appeared on Spanish-language television. Could you tell me more about that?
I think mainly the reason I have so much support in the Hispanic community is because of our background. I’m Hispanic and Hoya is too. We’ve always gone to South America on tour. Our Latin background, our songs written in Spanish, and going to these places is the reason why we get so much support from the Latin community.
We went to South America in the early 90s. Now South America is crazy. Back in the day we only went to one or two countries like Argentina and maybe Brazil. Now we go to Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Chile has got one of biggest scenes anywhere. There were thousands of kids showing up to shows in Chile! It’s a beautiful thing because my dad is from Colombia and for me to go to Colombia and play … well, it’s a real honor.
Speaking of South America, there are a lot of countries that have seen a lot of pain in the past and recent years. Some countries in places like the Middle East, South America and East Asia are war-torn and poverty-stricken. Today, Hardcore is prevalent and growing in a lot of these regions. Do you see a connection between these countries and the Hardcore music scene?
Hardcore as a genre was born out of necessity and it’s from the streets. It derives from the punk movement. There will always be that drastic, rebellious element to it. The energy and style behind it bring a lot of these kids to the scene. For some scenes, especially in these different torn nations, Hardcore is used as an outlet and it’s obvious that these kids relate to this style of music.
How do you feel about the new President and the state of the world right now?
The state of the world … we got a lot of things going on right now. I was just watching a documentary on Kenya. The whole country is unstable. It’s exploding over there. But let’s talk about America first. You asked me how I feel about the President. I voted for Obama. That was actually the first time I ever voted in my whole life and I’m excited to see what he is going to accomplish. A lot of people are criticizing him because they feel he hasn’t done enough since being in office, but on the other hand Barack Obama inherited a lot of problems from the previous administration. So we have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Before he got elected, I really liked what he was about. Hopefully he will follow through and we will start to see some things change.
What changes would you like to see first?
I personally have a lot of problems with the current healthcare system and I feel that it needs to be addressed. It can’t happen fast enough for some people. There are people a lot worse off than I am. It’s hard and really expensive to get good healthcare, especially in the city. It’s an unfortunate thing. I go to Europe a lot and I’ve seen how their health system works. And, yes, they get taxed more because it’s a socialized healthcare system but they have that piece of mind and security that they can have a kid without worrying about getting a bill from the hospital for $20,000. There has to be a happy medium and hopefully we’ll find that medium.
The band members, as I hear, are all big Yankee’s fans. Do you and Death Before Dishonor have a huge rivalry on tour in terms of baseball, especially when the Yanks and the Sox have been playing each other so much lately?
Nawwwwww, they are actually my good friends. You would laugh. I actually manage Death Before Dishonor. The whole Boston/NY thing…there will always be that sports rivalry but for the most part I have some very dear friends that live in the Boston area. It’s more about the hype than anything.
For Madball tour dates or to purchase tickets for the 10 for $10 tour check out the bands website at http://www.myspace.com/madball
