“MINOR THREAT WERE the first band that made me want to pick up a microphone. Hearing the smashing bottles at the start of Bottled Violence, then having the bass line hit along with those crunchy guitars… it’s like getting punched in the face. As a 14-year-old kid it was one of the coolest things I’d heard in my life - my only frame of reference at the time had been Metallica and this was just intense. I’m pushing 42 and it’s still my favourite kind of music… I’m a lifer and this is a lifestyle, not just music. If you were to ask me to tell somebody what punk is without them having a clue, I’d point to GBH’sGenerals as it’s absolutely classic. The attitude, his voice, the guitars… it all comes together perfectly. They were the first punk band I ever heard and they still kick ass today.
“I CHOP WOOD TO AMON AMARTH”
RORSCHACH were ahead of everybody in the 90s. Nobody yet was mixing hardcore and metal, but they were doing it very artistically and abstractly, with their guitars taking on this almost discordant, jazzy vibe. It was chaos, the vocals just screaming in your face. The lyrics were actually very poetic - the opening line to Mandible is ‘Asphalt headrush/let’s take a turn for the worst’ and I remember poring over the lyrics sheet over and over before I’d even played the record. They eventually went on to form a band called Deadguy, followed by KISS IT GOODBYE. I saw them in Boston in ’96 or ’97, and they were the first band that made me uncomfortable. The bass player and drummer were losing their minds; the guitar player kept screaming and spitting at the wall, while the vocalist Tim Singer just stood totally still, staring daggers at the audience. At the time I was in this band called Corrin - a devilcore band - and had been touring since I was like 15, but this was the most intimidating thing I’d seen! I lived at shows back then, going to three or four a week - it was my religion.
I know every word to every OPERATION IVY song - they were my high school singalong band. Friends and I would smoke weed and drive down to the beach, and Operation Ivy would always be blasting. They’ve stood the test of time and songs like Unity have inspired more than one Killswitch song; I love the idea of heavy and aggressive music being about unity and respect, these things that a lot of people don’t associate with that music. I love that ska and punk mix - skunk music - INNER TERRESTRIALS are this English squatter punk group and the lyrics have this great anarchist mentality of ‘food not bombs’. I love they brought in ska to mix things up rather than just being a standard crust punk band, bringing in some fun while making sure the message and lyrics stay intact.