Set lists from the collection of Larry Ransom part II

Gorilla Biscuits at CBGB, NYC, 2005, Larry to the left in the red shirt and holding the video camera, Photo: Jeff Start Today

I had front row seats for one of the reunion shows everyone thought would never happen. I was one of the few people allowed on stage during Gorilla Biscuits' reunion show at CBGB in 2005 and grabbed this after their set. Big thanks to the GB guys for always being super cool to me.


Gorilla Biscuits

This is an Outspoken set list I nabbed after one of the few reunion shows they played in California over the last few years. Pretty sure I nabbed this after their set at the Sink With Cali Fest but it could be from the New Age Fest in '05. I should have kept track of this stuff. Reinforced...I'm diving off any stage.


Outspoken

This is a very early Snapcase set list from February 23, 1991. I think this might be the second show they played with the name Snapcase. A couple of months before that they were still called Solid State. This set list shows a mix of Solid State as well as "new" Snapcase songs. This is from the last show at The Skyroom in West Seneca (Buffalo), NY. They played with Zero Tolerance and Cannibal Corpse.


Snapcase

Cro-Mags backstage interview 1986

"Clean the shit out of your brain"… you gotta love the Cro-Mags. I'm a sucker for anything Cro-Mags related, so when I stumbled upon this vintage video interview with Harley and Bloodclot hanging out backstage on the 1986 GBH/Cro-Mags tour, I was more than psyched. Whether you're interested in spirituality (which is what Harley and JJ are talking about in this interview) or not, this is classic Mags material that's well worth documenting and well worth watching. Turn down your TV, turn up the volume on your computer and get schooled on Kali Yuga. -Tim DCXX

Drew Stone - Antidote / xxx All Ages xxx

Drew Stone singing for The Mighty CO's May 29th 1982 Gallery East Boston, Photo: Debbie Damage

Drew Stone is the man who's holding the mic for Antidote, behind the camera of the All Ages Boston Hardcore Documentary, and behind the scenes for the massive Boston show taking place August 29. We've been meaning to catch up with him to get his full story and his long history in the hardcore scene. Lots of awesome stuff here, big thanks to Drew! -Gordo DCXX

Where did you grow up and how did you get involved with punk and HC?

I grew up in New York City in the 1970's as part of the "Blank Generation." Too late for the 60's thing, too early to be a part of the MTV generation (Thank God) and I fucking hated disco. In August of 1981 I went up to Emerson Collage in Boston to study acting. Soon after my arrival I was introduced to a guy in the Emerson cafeteria who had his head shaved. At the time the only people that had their heads shaved were marines and psychopaths. He told me that his name was "Choke" and he was into this "Hardcore" thing. "Hardcore? What do you mean Hardcore? Like The B52's, Joan Jett or Blondie?" I didn't have a fucking clue what he was getting at so after trying to explain it to me for a while we decided the best way for me to understand the whole thing was to just go and experience it for myself.

So a few days later we trooped to downtown Boston and into an old factory building to a place called the Media Workshop for a Sunday matinee show. As fate would have it, it was one of SS Decontrol's first shows and it turned out to be a pivotal point in my life. There were about 30 people there and everyone in attendance was my age or younger. There were no drugs or alcohol around which was very strange to me coming from a very different environment back in New York City. I felt very connected to what was going on in the room and jumped right into the melee.

After the band finished playing, the guitar player Al "Lethal" Barile came up and introduced himself to me and in turn he introduced the other guys in the band. He was very interested in knowing who I was and where I came from. It was a VERY small scene back then so when someone new showed up they were met with much enthusiasm. Regardless to say, after that I was swept up in the blooming early Boston hardcore scene which to say the least was an extremely exciting time.


One of the most powerful bands I have ever seen SS Decontrol at the Media Workshop 1981, Photo: Drew Stone

What were your first musical attempts, and how did that lead into The Mighty C.O's in Boston? Tell us about The Mighty C.O's, and the time line of that band?

I always loved music but before I got involved in the hardcore scene it always seemed so inaccessible. In Boston back in the early 80's there was no internet or cell phones so the place that we would all hang out at was the original location of Newbury Comics on Newbury Street. That was the hub of our universe back then. You would just hang out all day and wait for people to show up. I saw a flyer in Newbury Comics that said some guys that were into hardcore were looking for a bass player so I gave them a call. I went and played with them but I really wasn't much of a bass player so at some point I ended up being the singer. We named the band "The C.O's" (Conscientious Objectors) which later graduated to "The Mighty C.O's" after a comment from Al Barile.

The first show we played was in an Emerson College lounge with The Freeze, Government Issue and Double O from DC. We played Gallery East a few times after that with DYS, Jerry's Kids, the FU's and Gang Green and we were just starting to make some headway when I was excused from the band. It was always a strange relationship because I was always a bit of an outsider coming from New York City being the frontman who knew everyone in the scene, and playing with a bunch of kids from rural New Hampshire. The Mighty C.O's never really got their legs underneath them, were never recorded and only did about 5 shows that I can recall. They thought they could do better without me and as we all know they went on to achieve greatness and are now a household name.



Why did you return to NYC and how did that lead into The High And The Mighty as well as Antidote? How did you get to know those guys and end up on vocals?

After The Mighty C.O's ended and I had lost interest in school I had to earn a living so I came back to NYC to find work in the film business. Upon my arrival I immediately set out to put a new hardcore band together with a bunch of my friends from the Bronx. I wrote all the songs myself, showed them to the guys and we started playing shows. Some of those songs we still do to this day when Antidote plays out including "Road Warrior", "Don't Look Back" and "If The Time Is Right, We're Ready To Fight". The first "The High & The Mighty" show we played was a C.B.G.B.'s "HR Benefit" with Cause For Alarm, Murphy's Law & Major Conflict. After that we played the A7 quite a bit and went up to Boston a few times. We recorded and passed around The High & The Mighty "Crunch On" demo which was re-released a few years ago as part of the Antidote / The High & The Mighty "A7 and Beyond" CD.

In early 1984 we got a show down in D.C. at the Wilson Center with Antidote and we all drove down together in my van. On the way back home after the show Antidote's drummer Bliss and the singer Louie really got into it. By the time we got back to NYC he was out of the band and they were looking for a singer. "Thou Shalt Not Kill" had just come out and I loved the band so I really knew the material well. I was tight with Nunzio at the time so I got a shot at being the new singer and it worked out.

Antidote obviously put out one of the all time greatest NYHC records - can you remember how you first heard about the record and the band? Did you see them live with Louie? What was it like?

I met Nunzio while hanging out at the A7 in 1983. I had seen Antidote play a few times by that point and they were fucking great live. I remember once I came down from Boston with SS Decontrol when they played the Bad Brains retirement shows in December of 1982 and Antidote was on the bill. They were one of my favorite bands at the time. Bliss was a great drummer and Nunzio's guitar playing was a cut above the rest. They fucking crushed it live.


Drew Stone Boston Mass. age 18, Photo courtesy of: Drew Stone

Little is documented about the existence of Antidote through the late eighties. What exactly was going on, where did you play, and what was the response? Tell us about the "Return 2 Burn" release.

Antidote called it a day as a "hardcore" band in 1986 but in 1988 Nunzio and I started playing together again. He had a whole bunch of new songs that he wanted to sing and he needed a bass player so I stepped in. At first the new band was called "Third Rail" but starting from scratch was tough. Nunzio is a very talented guy. He writes great stuff, can sing, but he just wasn't a great front man. At some point we got some record company interest and it was decided that I would move back to vocals and we would change the name back to Antidote.

At the time a lot of hardcore bands were changing direction and it seemed like a good idea because of the name recognition. The new Antidote was really a "Rock" band with our biggest influence at the time being Guns 'N Roses. For a while we were were firmly entrenched in the NYC rock scene and were practically the house band at the Rock and Roll Church at the Limelight. We got signed and recorded the "Return 2 Burn" record and played some great shows with bands like Circus Of Power and Hell's Kitchen.

"Return 2 Burn" had a pretty slick production sound for the day. When we went to check out the recording studio Pantera was in there recording "Cowboys From Hell" and we liked what we heard. "Something Must Be Done" and "Road Warrior" were on the record in reworked versions and we ended up doing a music video for the song "Return 2 Burn." For a while there it was a lot of fun but in the early 90's things started to change when grunge came in and things just kind of ran their course. In 1991 we folded Antidote for the second time and that's when I started my film production company "Stone Films NYC" and that's when things really took off.


Antidote 1984, Nunzio, Drew Stone, Bryan, Bliss, Photo courtesy of: Drew Stone

This Is Hardcore - August 13, 14, 15, 2010 - Starlight Ballroom - Philadelphia, PA - Schedule

Chris Wrenn - Bridge 9 Records

Chris at the B9HQ, Photo: Future Breed

Chris Wrenn has built Bridge 9 Records into a hardcore powerhouse that has withstood a changing music landscape and proven that they have their shit together in a major way. We had wanted to catch up with Chris for a while now and pick his brain. More to come... -Gordo DCXX

How did you get into punk and hardcore? When and where was this? Who were your favorite bands from the beginning?

Like a lot of kids in the late '80s, I got into hardcore and punk through metal. The first cassette that I owned - the first time that I had my own music that I could listen to whenever I wanted to - was Motley Crue's "Girls, Girls, Girls." In 2010 you can listen to any band that you want at any time, if you have a computer, but back then, you didn't have the means. Not the punk-est story in the world, but when I was in 5th grade ('87), I was given a gift certificate to "Uncle Jim's Record Stop" in my town. I used it to get the Crue cassette, which had just come out, and it was my first step into heavy music.

After that, I'd go down to the the local pharmacy to look at heavy metal magazines like RIP and Metal Maniacs to see interviews with Motley Crue, and that just exposed me to a ton of metal bands. By 7th grade ('89) I was heavily into the Roadrunner Records catalog, buying anything that the label put out- Obituary, Sepultura, King Diamond and Deicide...I was also getting exposed to a lot of NYHC bands, because in the late '80s, the Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front and Sick Of It All were getting full page photos and write ups in those magazines on a regular basis.

I got into some of the more traditional hardcore/punk bands through the more mainstream ones - Metallica introduced me to The Misfits through their "Garage Days Re-Revisited" cassette, members of Slayer used to wear Dead Kennedy's t-shirts...bands like Nuclear Assault used to thank tons of hardcore bands in their albums - and back then that was how you were introduced to stuff. If you liked a band, you wanted to check out who they toured with, were friends with, or influenced by.

Skateboarding also defined me at the same time, so I was introduced to bands like Minor Threat and Black Flag through my friends who skated, and through bands covered in skateboarding magazines. I was exposed to music through a variety of influences back then - and you had to be active and involved to be exposed to music, you couldn't just learn about every band in your bedroom overnight. In '92 I purposely stopped listening to metal and would only listen to hardcore and punk bands, because I felt like I could relate more to the more personal, community style experience that I was having at hardcore shows, versus the big stadium style events that you had with metal bands.


Chris hits the Connecticut crowd during an Underdog set at the Tunn Inn, Photo courtesy of: Chris Wrenn

Before you did Bridge 9, were you attracted to the idea of a record label and having that type of involvement? What about playing in bands?

I started my first venture when I was nine. I made flyers advertising lawn mowing and raking leaves, and put them in all of my neighbor’s mailboxes. I was an entrepreneur before I knew what it was. I've always been proactive in that regard - so by the time I decided to put out my first record, I was comfortable with the process of taking that risk and working to make sure each step was followed through.

I never played in a band - and all of my friends were in bands, so putting out that first record allowed me to stay involved and contribute to the local scene. I wasn't looking to start a record label when I put out my first 7" - in fact I didn't include a catalog number on it, because I didn't think there would be more than one release. It was just an opportunity to try something new. I was going to school in Vermont at the time - a couple of states away from my hometown scene, and I wanted to stay connected. Two of my college friends, Mark & Ned, told me that I should put out a 7". Mark had grown up friends with Scott Beibin's younger brother so he put me in touch with Scott, who did Bloodlink Records. Scott allowed me to ask him a bunch of questions (I called him from my dorm room pay phone, likely using a dialer that he had made and given to Mark), and it helped me get started in the right direction.

I also had some help from my friend Jesse Standhard, who had just started his own label around the same time and had put out a 7" or two just prior to my first. We'd open up fanzines, look for distributors' ads and call them to try and get them to take copies of our records on consignment. Bridge Nine started during the fall of 1995, and the first record came out during the summer of 1996.


Roger, Chris and Vinny, Photo courtesy of: Chris Wrenn

Was Bridge 9 initially supposed to turn into a full-scale label, or did you just see yourself releasing maybe a few records done by friends? How did things progress, and what was your motivation for continuing?

Starting a full-scale label like what Bridge Nine is today was definitely not in the original plan. I just wanted to put out a 7 inch with my friends' band. I needed to raise money to put out that first EP, so I made stickers, canvas patches & t-shirts to sell and help promote it. Back then, it was pretty common for random kids to put out a few 7" records and then call it quits. It took a year to recoup from B9's first record, and by that time, the band had broken up, so I decided to take their last 3 songs and put them on another 7" and release it posthumously.

I was traveling to shows every weekend, and a lot of times I'd end up in Boston, so at one particular show, a band from that area, Proclamation, gave me their demo. It took another year before I could afford to do a 3rd record, but I called them up and offered to do their EP. Then another Boston band followed, The Trust - and in 1998 I released their EP as well - the same year that I was graduating from college. Being that the two active bands were from Boston, I decided to move there.

By this point I knew that I wanted to continue releasing records, but didn't have much of a plan, other than to try and make the money back from the last record, and put it into the next one. I was starting to get letters from kids from all over the world. Japan, Europe, Asia. I felt like I was becoming part of something a lot bigger than my dorm room or my first apartment on Boston's Mission Hill filled with other hardcore kids. That motivated me to keep going...

Russ Iglay - Underdog part II

Zev and Richie with Underdog at The Stone Pony, Photo: Ken Salerno

Derek Rinaldi's piece on Underdog and interview with Russ continues in this second part... -Gordo DCXX

So you were out of Murphy’s Law how long before forming UNDERDOG?

About a week.

And now the fist UNDERDOG lineup includes...

Richie, Myself, Greg Pierce and Danny Derella.


Dean with Underdog at City Gardens, Trenton, NJ, Photo: Ken Salerno

When does Dean come into the picture?

Well, Greg only played in UNDERDOG a few months and then after recording the seven inch, he moved to Florida...I think to attend college. We were trying out a bunch of drummers. Ernie from Token Entry played a show or two. Dean was already playing in Good Humor and it just made sense to steal him. He actually played in both bands until we started touring and from then on, it was just UNDERDOG.

After a while there was some shifting in the guitar personnel...

Well, we added Arthur as a second guitarist and the sound was really amazing. Eventually, Danny left the band and we toured with Arthur. Arthur was a bit more serious than the rest of us. On tour there was a lot of horsing around - like fun tour stuff which Arthur really wasn’t into. So once we got back from that tour, Arthur was gone.


Chuck, Russ and Richie with Underdog at City Gardens, Photo: Ken Salerno

Enter Chuck Treece?

Yeah, I met Chuck through Tom Groholski and I had known about Chuck’s musical resume and he skated so it was a good fit.

And this is 1989?

Yes.


Russ with Underdog at The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ, Photo: Ken Salerno

That’s same year you guys were featured on Thrasher Magazine’s Skate Rock Volume 7. The bands on that release were hand picked by Pushead right?

Yeah, I was talking to him a couple of times a week for a while leading up to that. I was bummed because this was the first in the Skate Rock series that came out exclusively on cassette and not on vinyl as well, which was a bummer.

So Vanishing Point is released and the band heads on tour with yourself, Richie, Dean and Chuck?

Yeah, that was the line up for that tour. Once we came home from that tour, that was pretty much the end of UNDERDOG. We dropped Chuck off at Penn Station, he headed for Philly and the rest of us went our separate ways.

And that was it until 1998?

There was nothing happening with the band at all until we re-released the songs for Go-Kart Records in 1998 and our friend Tim Borer booked us on the Alive And Well bill that took place at Convention Hall in Asbury Park.


Underdog sing along at City Gardens, Trenton, NJ, Photo: Ken Salerno

Then the tour?

Yes, then he booked our tour to support that release. This was the first time UNDERDOG toured without Dean, who was busy making babies. So we went on tour with Jay from American Standard on drums and Matt Dolan on guitar.

So now, you’ve got a head full of steam and the band is back together. Everyone is into the songs again. What happens next?

The way it was...or I was going, it wasn’t going to last. I was partying way too much and making that a priority over everything else. The fact that things have been going so well with UNDERDOG lately is directly contributed to me being sober.


Richie and Russ with Underdog in 2010 at The Stone Pony, Photo: Ken Salerno

Then you go from 1998 until 2005 before playing again?

We were asked to reform and play the first of a series of benefit shows for CBGB. We were on the bill with Killing Time and were back to the original lineup of myself, Richie, Matt and Dean. A year later we played with Bad Brains and The Stimulators for one of the closing shows for the club.

From this point on you guys are raising families, working, and just playing shows ala carte?

Right, I mean we took a trip to Japan for the Magma Festival in 2007, I think. Then the Burning Fight Festival in Chicago in 2008, but for the most part just local shows and one-offs.


Richie and Russ at City Gardens, 1989, Photo: Ken Salerno

Now it’s 2010 and you’ve got a new relationship with Bridge Nine Records, how did that come about?

This whole Bridge Nine thing came up when we got asked to play the Burning Fight festival in Chicago. Jim Grimes, the organizer, had contacted us about playing even though we weren’t really making music in the nineties.

Our friend Scooter, who was on tour with us, had introduced me to the owner of Bridge Nine, Chris Wrenn. At the time we were working with Revelation Records to release an UNDERDOG discography. Chris was bummed at not having a chance to do the discography but gave me his card and told me to call him if they could do something with the band in the future.

A couple months went by and things were still moving very slow with Revelation (that was both of our faults) and it had been about two years since the idea was first brought up. So one day, I just emailed Chris at Bridge Nine and asked him to give me a call...he called me hours later and the rest is history.

What did you like most about Bridge Nine?

Once I got home from that trip in Chicago, I started looking a their website. They had a small group of bands that they pushed really hard and they seemed to have a lot of momentum. Chris called back about two hours later after I first e-mailed him and we worked it all out. They were real strict with their deadlines and they pushed me to get my submissions in on time. It was very motivating.

Twenty-five years later the UNDERDOG story continues. Some of the founding members still skate, still surf, still get together on occasion for a show or two. The number of UNDERDOG offspring has hit nine. At this rate if they continue playing, they’ll have a full staff of press and marketing people right at home.

After all, it’s the families that have proven to be each member's priority and the reason that making, recording and touring for new music is almost impossible - and they wouldn’t have it any other way.


Dean with Underdog in 1989, Photo: Ken Salerno

So...any chance of a future UNDERDOG release with new songs? “Those songs, those early songs are what has defined UNDERDOG” says Iglay. “It’s what every person that comes to see us wants to hear. Why change that? If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. It’s that simple.”

That, my dear friends, is the story of UNDERDOG, plain and simple.
Happy 25th Anniversary, punks. -Derek Rinaldi


Russ with Underdog at The Stone Pony, 2010, Photo: Ken Salerno

DYS Confirms Reunion Show Line-up

DYS 2010, Photo: Tim Gray - timgray.com

Today, DYS founding members vocalist Dave Smalley and bass player Jonathan Anastas announced that they will be joined on stage in Boston by original lead guitar player Ross Luongo, as well as new rhythm guitar player Bobby Frankenheim and new drummer Jack Clark. Both additions bring a shared passion and history to the band, as well as their own impressive music legacies. Jack Clark plays in the current line-up of Jerry’s Kids and has played with Boston punk legends Unnatural Axe as well as with original Dead Boy Cheetah Chrome’s band. Bobby Frankenheim, who has been of friend of DYS almost since the band’s inception, co-founded Boston bands Death Wish and The Loved Ones.



DYS & Friends Reunion Show Flyer

“It was really important that this reunion show be fun and powerful,” said Anastas. “We didn’t want to do a DYS show with only one original member, or use hired guns with no connection to the band’s musical roots. Jack and Bobby have history with the core band, with punk, with rock, and with the sound we want to achieve.” Added Dave Smalley, “A great band is hopefully about more than chops, which these guys have in spades. It’s about shared experience, a shared sonic vision and it’s – above all - about chemistry. Who could you spend days with on a bus, in a studio, at practice, backstage? Jonathan, Ross and I are really glad to be playing together again for that reason. And Bobby and Jack are both guys we easily could have done it with the first time around.”

At this time, the Gallery East Reunion show and performance filming for the documentary movie “XXX All Ages XXX” are the only activities DYS currently has planned. In closing, Dave added, “Gallery East, Duane and Drew Stone are stand-up veterans of a very special time. Helping their movie and their event were very important goals for us. Right now, that’s 100% of our focus as a band.”

DYS Rehearsal Promo 2010, Video: Drew Stone