C is Chris Kelly (guitar) G is George (guitar) J is Josh (vocals) R is Rahji (vocals) K is Kevin (drums) Chris Casali (bass) couldn't make it ------------------------------------------------------ Civil Defense. That's a very political name. Do any of you have views/interests on significant political topics both past and present? ------------------------------------------------------ C: Nothing that really comes into play with the band. J: See the lyrics to "Save Yourself". R: Yeah, as far as the name goes, it's the name of an FU's song but it also has something to do with the band. It's not political like government politics or anything on that kind of scale. ------------------------------------------------------ Or is C.D. more into scene politics? ------------------------------------------------------ J: Yes, it's the inspiration behind most of the lyrics. Not "scene politics" per se, but stupid shit that's going on in the scene or stupid individuals in the scene. R: There's a lot of that type of stuff that gets us mad and it's all in the lyrics. ------------------------------------------------------ Are scene politics playing a role in your music? ------------------------------------------------------ J: What we're AGAINST is scene politics and all the bullshit that comes along with it and that's what Civil Defense is about. That's what we've been dealing with so far.. anti- "scene politics", hierarchies, status structures, and cliques and all that shit. G: Right, I agree. ------------------------------------------------------ What does hardcore mean to you. ------------------------------------------------------ R: To me it's not about hardcore or this kind of music or that kind of music ..it's cool if kids are just into some kind of music and they're having fun. But basically a place where kids can enjoy the music that we're playing, have fun, and not have to worry about all the politics and bullshit that we just talked about. That's it. K: I've never been into hardcore and I have never been a hardcore kid.. I'm still not a hardcore kid. I just play hardcore.. I play what I like to play. I have fun and I hope people have fun listening to us. J: Kevin is the fantasy heavy metal dude in Civil Defense. K: I am "heavy metal boy" ..rock on! C: Me? I guess it's just the music that I've always related to.. since I was a young kid. It spoke to me like nothing else. It doesn't quite do that anymore, but.. [George and Josh both say at once "That's what Civil Defense is for"] C: Yeah. G: My turn? Hardcore is just like Rahji said.. just a place to go and have fun and listen to music you enjoy. It's a place that you can go to escape from the real world. J: To me, hardcore is a music or a lifestyle or culture - whatever you want to call it - based on agression. It's just about pure agression and you get that out in a controlled situation - ideally - you know you're always going to have some jackass that takes it a little too far, but it's just about getting out that agression in a situation with a tight group of friends or an extended group of friends ..that type of environment. And it's just about having fun and talking about whatever pisses you off and uniting against that. R: Actually, I think one of the best "what does hardcore mean to you?" answers is on that Eye For An Eye discography. If you listen to the guitarist explain it, it's like he's saying that hardcore's just about emotion - some kind of emotion. And that's what I kind of think. So that's why I might respect some kids who get up on stage and start whining about whatever ..as long as it's real. That's just not what we're into.. we're into screaming about stuff that pisses us off and that's what our songs are about. J: Yeah, any pure type of emotion is good I guess but the basic fundamentals is just being pissed off.. R: ..yeah, the primal emotion that you can't express in a "civilized world" like at work or school or whatever. C: I think too that it's just really stripped down and honest music. You've got industry music - you know, major label music - and all that stuff where it's like what Josh was saying ..it's all about hierarchies and protocol and status quo and all that stuff ..and hardcore's just kind of "there" you know? What you see is what you get and there's no hidden anything. R: Some people don't understand that and they try and hide or candy-coat their message so that everyone will agree with it and then it's not the same.. and that's when bands suck - when they try and appeal to everybody. There are some people who won't like our lyrics - I personally think they're pretty straight-forward and honest. Definitely nothing bad about what we're saying, but there are always people who are going to say that they don't agree with us or whatever ...good - then we're evoking emotion ..we're expressing emotion and we're evoking it in other people. That's all I would want out of what we're doing. J: Yeah, and if they have a problem with any of our lyrics it's probably because it's hit a sour chord with them because there's something that they don't feel comfortable with in themselves. Our songs may seem negative on the surface but they're extremely positive when you really look at it.. it's for a purpose. ------------------------------------------------------ C.D.'s first show received an overwhelming response from the crowd and bands alike, what were all of your initial reactions? ------------------------------------------------------ G: Out of all the bands I've ever been in, that was the best response I've ever gotten from a first show. That was my experience ..I was like "wow!" C: Yeah, I remember going to shows where the whole room went crazy and not just this little "pit" or whatever right in front. And that's what it looked like at our show. And it may have been a little dangerous and a little scary for people I'm sure and that's kind of one of the things missing from hardcore now. J: Yeah, that's good. Not like fear or whatever, but tension.. because you start getting rid of the tension and just having fun. There are kids running around with a big smile on their faces ..they still feel the tension. K: It lets them as well as us get out their tension when they're in the quote-unquote "pit" dancing. It just lets everyone vent you know? C: Yeah, I don't mean scary as in people should be scared.. It's just that now bands play and kids start doing their moves like they're supposed to ..it's all just following protocol. J: Well see the "dark ages of hardcore" was when it was banned and "not cool" to dance at hardcore shows and that's stupid.. that's one of the fundamental things of a hardcore show is kids having fun when they're dancing. Yeah, I agree that you should have the right not to dance and not to get jumped on or something, but kids can't be complaining and whining about it - especially if they're playing quote-unquote "hardcore music". So I was surprised at the extent of the reaction that we got but I wasn't surprised that people were dancing and stuff - because of the type of hardcore we play, it should evoke that type of response. But it was cool seeing that people were definitely having fun and not worrying about wether they were going to be seen as uncool if they were dancing around or something.. like George has gotten spit on before for dancing. It doesn't have to be punching people in the face either.. You pay your money for a show, you should get something out of it.. R: Yeah, or you could just sit at home and listen to the music if there's not going to be any activity or dancing or whatever. J: That's another aspect of hardcore that we didn't mention before.. it's an interactive kind of music. There should be interaction between the band and the crowd and that's what's phat about it.. with the exception of some shows (like Lupo's) there's no barriers and nothing like that. No one's a superstar.. even the biggest hardcore band - no matter how big there head is - they ain't shit. Some people have a hard time believing that but being in a hardcore band shouldn't make you some kind of a superstar and shouldn't give you an excuse to have some kind of ego. R: That might seem obvious, but one of the coolest things that I've taken from going to hardcore shows is like when you would go to Warzone shows, and Raybeez would always go through his whole routine where he would tell everyone that he was on the floor with everyone else while he was singing because it shouldn't be like the band's up on some pedestal ..that he was one of us. That's why I like us singing on the floor and not a stage, and that's why I like shows that aren't in big clubs, with bouncers and all that shit.. I'd rather play in a gym or a VFW hall or something because it's not like us up there on a pedestal looking down on the "fans" preaching or whatever. We're just like everyone else that's there. C: Also, a lot of people said that that's something that's been necessary for a long time.. that the reaction we got was something that people have been waiting for for a while. (Angela said that) ------------------------------------------------------ What's C.D. trying to accomplish in the long run? ------------------------------------------------------ J: We're just trying to be there and stay a straight raw hardcore band and people have the option to see us or not but you know, at least there's an option now ..you can go see a hardcore show or you can see a hardcore band play, but for a long time I had to go to Slayer shows to dance because there weren't that many hardcore shows and not that much hardcore going on. I mean there's always been stuff around but locally, there wasn't much. It seems like now there are a lot of bands popping up that are more like hardcore. R: Yeah, that's the whole long range plan anyway, is just to do the same thing we're doing. We have no master plan and we're not going to be changing. G: My long term goal is to tour Europe and Japan. [laughing] ------------------------------------------------------ Where did the idea/inspiration come from to write the C.D. athem "Enough"? ------------------------------------------------------ The lyrics kind of summarize all of the other songs. Basically, if you look at our record as a book.. each song is a chapter and "Enough" is kind of like the index. ------------------------------------------------------ Since most of you are in other bands or run labels, etc. Does C.D. still remain a first priority for all of you? Both creatively and show-wise? ------------------------------------------------------ G: I personally spread myself equally. Between this and Before I Break.. they're two totally different sounds so it's not like I write a song and say "hmm, who should I use this for?" It's totally different and I give as much to this band as I do to Before I Break. K: Ditto. I go down to the Before I Break practice with a different mindset than I do when I come here. I guess in this band I put more emotion into what I'm playing.. it's more agressive. I don't play any less hard or whatever, I just play what fits and what comes out with what we write. But I still split the time equally between both bands. They both please me in the same way so I'll play for both bands as much as I can. C: It is a totally different type of mindset. I mean, I listen to all different kinds of music and a lot of that comes out in Capture the Flag but hardcore is the music that I grew up listening to. It's the music that will always be closest to my heart so this is - well, it's hard to say that one band is more important than the other - but this band is something I need to do. J: I agree. Every now and then I think I shake the hardcore thing and I get too disgruntled with the scene or what's going on or the music in general but then it's like this is something I definitely need to do. Like George said I have an equal priority with all things. Yes I run a label but it's a hip-hop label so it's a whole different ball game, so there's really no interaction between the two. But I give them both the same. And with ITI it's more of a project right now because of constrictions. I'll always have ITI but I can honestly say that right now I'm more into Civil Defense just because it's even more raw than ITI and I think we'll be able to do more with Civil Defense than what ITI has. R: I'm not in any other bands but I still don't have a lot of extra time. Plus, I live in Boston so it takes some effort to be able to practice and go to shows down here or whatever. Chris isn't here but he's trying to do other bands and he has to drive here too but he's still into it and he's still here when we practice. J: And I think that's a testament to where everybody's at with Civil Defense because it's a tri-city band.. Boston, New Bedford and Providence. And usually unless there's a weird exception everyone's here for practices and everyone's into it. And everyone's background is different but we all just get together and do it. ------------------------------------------------------ Any of you believe in scene unity? Do you think our scene has unity? ------------------------------------------------------ R: Unfortunately, I think "unity" usually comes out to a situation where you're "united" with kids who are your friends and kids who are like you and everyone else is ostracized. It's just like any other group or unit.. like religion, etc. It's like everyone's either with you or against you. So when people talk about a "scene", what I envision is a clique of kids who only socialize with themselves. I don't like the rumor mills and the gossip bullshit that goes on and unfortunately that's what I sort of equate with the term "scene". That's just a generalization, but the reason I come down here to NB isn't because of the scene it's because there are kids down here that I've known for a long time and even the kids that I don't know are usually cool with everybody. If that's what "scene unity" is, then yeah NB has scene unity. G: Personally, I think NB scene unity is important and it's something I fight for because I think it's something that I think is lacking in other scenes. I'm all about unity.. If someone wants to use my amp, I'll let them use my amp... it's all about helping each other out. R: Yeah, I believe in that too. The only thing I'm saying is that I don't think you have to be part of a "scene" to be generous or friendly or cool with kids you don't know. J: I don't either, and maybe my idea of a scene is a little more idealistic than yours but I think that a bunch of kids that go to a hardcore show is a "scene" and I think the scene should have unity. Basically when you go to a hardcore show everyone should be cool with each other regardless of what they look like or whatever - just a network of friends with no attitudes and shit. R: Right. ------------------------------------------------------ Why hasn't C.D. been introduced into the Internet yet? Aren't some of you actively involved with computers? ------------------------------------------------------ There is a temporary web site up at http://www.morenoise.com/civildefense Soon to be updated in a big way. ------------------------------------------------------ When's the demo coming out? ------------------------------------------------------ We should be recording in two weeks. ------------------------------------------------------ What did you guys think of this interview? Good? Bad? ------------------------------------------------------ Very good questions. Not the typical "who's in the band" and "what are your influences" type shit. We had a good time.. thanks.