Young Poor & Angry Press

I was fortunate to catch Greg Attonito of Bouncing Souls on some much earned down time at Warped Tour 09 aka the 15th anniversary of the tour. We got a few minutes to shoot the breeze and discuss the punk scene, the war in Iraq and what’s it like being the “old guys” finally. Not going to lie ladies and gents, was a bit nervous being Bouncing Souls is a band I literally grew up with. Greg was a lot of fun though, so check out the interview.

Greg Attonito of The Bouncing Souls, interview by Justin Newman, filmed by Dave Stanton

Dallas.  The show was the one on every band’s list as having been the best thus far into the Warped Tour.  Why?  All the kids had high energy.  All 16,000 of them really got into the show, and were fun and supportive.  Hm, I wondered where Hartford would rank in 2009 Warped Tour history.  All the bands I got to interview spoke to the press before their sets, so all said something along the lines of “I don’t know, but there’s a real good vibe here… the weather is great, the kids seem cool…the setup is excellent.”  I would have to agree.  Armed with my notebook, lots of water, and photo assistants (big thanks to Nora and Sofia who I could not have done it without!), I set out to experience Warped in Hartford CT. Read the rest of this entry »

Ryan Primack: bagel stealer and distributor, your local sushi restaurant employee, Bad Brains fanatic, and long time guitarist of Poison The Well. Poison The Well is currently touring on the 10 for $10 tour along side the likes of Bane, Madball, Terror, and a slew of other great names.

I was lucky enough to catch time to catch up with Ryan before he began the 10 for $10 tour.
“Its going to be awesome. It’ll be a lot - a lot of fun. I’m super stoked to be playing in a club. I’d rather play to a room of 400 people. I’m a little too insecure for the big crowds.” Curious to any tips for surviving the long, potentially sweaty, road of touring he advised me; “BABY WIPES. Tooth brush, tooth paste. I can’t live without gold bond. The feet, they turn rank quick. I’m telling you, ALWAYS have clean socks.” Personally, I think that sounds like a great quality in a band mate, a man who handles his hygiene. His favorite place to play had to be Philadelphia, he decided.  “That’s where my mom lives. She goes out to my shows because she’s pretty cool.” Growing up in what he describes as a really large family, he’s extremely close them.

Ryan has been in the band from the get go. “It’s been a core group of people for a long me. For us, most of the members that came and went, were in the earlier years of the band. We sort of found a relationship that works for us. If cool people come in our band, awesome. If they don’t we try to look for someone who sort of works for all of us.” In high school, Ryan was in a punk band called Last Minute. I found online recordings of his band available, but hadn’t yet listened to them. “Don’t!  Just don’t do it!  That band was horrible! It was terrible… I was really young, and it was just a really bad punk band. It was the mid 90’s… and you know, it was just shitty.” Ryan has grown up surrounded by music; his dad’s major in college was music. He said at a young age, he started raiding his dad’s music collection. “All of my life, music has been around. Ever since I was a tiny child, I always had random instruments to make noise with.”  When I mentioned a bad Avril Lavigne stage I experienced mid 7^th grade and elaborated on a time I once attempted to play guitar… very poorly. He encouraged me to pick it back up. “It’s never too late to learn.” Ryan said.

Ryan is also a criminal with good intentions; “Me and my friends were just out of high school, we’d break into the dumpster of Einstein’s where they used to throw away all the bagels. It was all the bagels that were left over. Hundreds! We used to go to the dumpster and go feed the homeless. I can’t tell you how many times we got ‘hey you want some food?’ and the response was “I don’t want no food mother fucker, I want money!”

Ryan said growing up, he listened to hardcore before he knew it was hardcore. ”At the time, I listened to a lot of post hardcore like Fugazi, or really early hardcore like Bad Brains, Dag Nasty, stuff like that. I just had mix tapes friends made from when I lived in Philadelphia and Florida. I mean, I didn’t really know anybody. I didn’t know it was hardcore. It was just some music I had gotten from my friend’s brother.”

Poison the Well has been a very successful band of the course of their existence. At one point they signed over to the major record label Atlantic, but the time on the label was short lived, soon leaving the label with gossip of “creative differences.” We talked got about the transition from an indie label, to a major, and back to an indie label. Ryan described the trade off as comfortable; “ I didn’t really enjoy my time on a major record label… in any way. It was awesome at first because they put on an attitude ‘Yeah we just really like your band and believe in what you’re doing. Do whatever you want.’ My initial thought was ‘COOL! Fine by me!’ And you know, as soon as the second record it was like ‘Oh you have to do this, this, and this.’ And we said ‘Yea, no. Were not doing any of it. See ya later.’ For me, it’s not about the money. None of us started this because we wanted to get money. If that were the case, we all picked a horrible career if that was our goal.” I asked him about the state of music these days, is hardcore the new biggest trend, or is it really about the music? “I don’t really know. I don’t really have an opinion whether that’s untruthful or not. I would never want to say that and I have faith to say people go for the music. I just choose to say yes, it’s about the music. I don’t really want to accept the other answers as a possibility.”

“For us, I guess you could say the bands on 10 for $10 have a different sound - little more traditional sound than us, but for us especially regarding hardcore. For us it’s TRYING to be different. It’s sort of how we preserve ourselves being in the hardcore scene. We kind of push the boundaries. It’s like the hardcore band Bad Brains. Even though they had a lot of reggae stuff, everyone still considers them a hardcore band.” Ryan also mentioned Bad Brains is his favorite hardcore band, ever. “Even Fugazi or that band Void that did a split in the early 80’s, very very different sound than traditional hardcore.” He likes to keep a relaxed atmosphere at their shows; “We’re always walking around during the show. The only time we’re rushed is after the show when we have long drives ahead and we’re trying to get out their really quick. I think all of us really enjoy interacting with fans at shows.”

July 7^th, the band just released Tropical Rot. He’s curious to what people will say about their new record. “It’s kind of a common trend for our band to change it up on each record. So you can say, it’s definitely different. It’s nothing crazy, it’s no polka record.”

Ryan bides his time off touring working at a sushi joint with a couple of friends. We all know food industry has it’s ups and downs. “People in the food industry, working at restaurants all seemingly are out of their minds,” Ryan said, laughing. When we spoke, he had been working there for 7 weeks and said there are always ” love/hate relations involved in his job.” When asked what he would be doing if he wasn’t  currently making music, Ryan told me; “I hope to be involved in a music related career, such as building guitars or something along those lines. I always want to work in music.”
When asked about his musical preferences and favorite bands, Ryan was quick with to reply. “Between the three bs: It’s a cross between Black Sabbath, The Beatles, and the Bad Brains.” Asked if he was forced to listen to one song from his band over and over for the remainder of his life, what would it be and why?  After pausing for what seemed like a decade , he sneakily decided “There was a pressing mistake once on an album. I would want a copy of the pressing mistake one because they put reggae on the cd on accident for the first 1,000 copies. That’s my loophole, right there.”

Make sure to check out Tropic Rot, which is now out for your listening pleasure on Ferret Music. Ryan says his goal for the 10 for $10 tour. which is well on it’s way. is to “have fun and hangout. It’s going to be fun.” He wants to continue touring and mentioned at the end of this year, he’ll be touring with Rise Against and Thursday. “Im excited for Tropic Rot to come out. Hopefully nobody will hate it.” Ryan and I bid our goodbyes as he promised to say hi at the 10 for $10 Tour date in Los Angeles. “I’ll be the creepy girl in a dress and cowboy boots lurking around merch tables giving out hugs. Maybe I’ll tackle you.” Ryan retorted with “I’ll be the guy who looks like crap, enjoy trying to pick me up.”

Maybe I’ll ask for bagels instead.

Be sure to check out Tropic Rot, now available.

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