1. First off, thanks for the interview, the
BearTrap and Witch Cult shows in Romania were definitely one of the highlights
for me this year. So, let’s get to it, what’s up with you and the band right
now?
A month after we got home from our Euro tour
we did a 43 day full United States tour. We just had a new 7inch, Sleep
Eradication, come out on To Live A Lie Records (www.tolivealie.com) Now we have
just been sitting home for a month doing the "real life" sorta thing
2. How did Beartrap start? I know you’re basically
the only steady member and that you do all the recordings and songwriting. Do
you ever find it challenging to fill in the other spots and go on tour?
BearTrap started in the fall of 2007. I had
just parted ways with a band i played drums in and I was in a really bad mental
state. I wrote and recorded the first 4 songs in my basement by myself and
formed a band around it. I realized that it was easier for me to just write the
songs alone and teach them to people at practice. There was a steady line up
for the first year but then when I wanted to start touring more they all fell
out. From then on I've had the "BearTrap Collective" which is a lot
of my friends filling in on whatever they want to do. I feel like it has been
easier to do that then convince the same 4 people to tour so much.
3. Your tour with Witch Cult lasted for 2
months. That’s huge, very few bands are that ambitious when it comes to
touring. What made you decide to do such a long tour?
I thought to myself this
could be my only chance to see all of these places so why not just go for it
all in one shot. Also, if you play more shows in more places with shorter
drives you will lose less money
4. I read your tour diary on the Hardcore More Than
Music blog (hcmorethanmusic.blogspot.ro) and I know you had your ups and downs,
can you share a few words about how the tour went? What were your favorite
places to play?
The tour was seriously
better than I could have ever imagined. Of course we had to deal with some
shitty cops and weird boarder shit sometimes, but a lot of worse stuff could
have happened. We had no van issues which is insane based on the fact that the
tour was 60 days. We met a lot of cool people and saw a lot of cool things not
many people will get a chance to in life. Best shows were Lisbon Portugal,
Bristol UK, Athens Greece, Istanbul Turkey, Prague Czech Republic, Berlin
Germany, and Galway Ireland. No show on the tour was bad but those were the
shows where people knew the words/went WYLD and sang along. Being in a small
touring band from the United States and doing a diy tour in Europe and having
anyone know the words to our songs is mind blowing. The coolest place location
wise was a small town on the north coast of Spain called Zarutz. It was a small
town between 2 mountains and it was beautiful. Right on the beach, the surf was
awesome, and if i ever disappear from real life that is where I'll be.
5. In 2 months you had time to experience most of
the European hardcore scene, how do you see it compared to the scene in the
States?
It really is worlds apart. Its so easy to tour
in the United States and every band does so it creates a flooded market and in
places like Boston it means there is a show every night of the week. That may
sound like heaven to some people but really it creates little cliques that sub
divide the scenes a lot. Most people only go to see certain bands and don't
really think outside their little box. As a whole touring is also easier
because their are no boarders to deal with. People seem to appreciate it more
over in Europe too. Bands get fed and people are excited to see you and in the
U.S. sometimes its not like that cause people get burnt out on so many touring
bands. If you put that a band is from the United States on a flyer in Europe
people get interested/excited because a band is coming from far away to play
for you, but if you put that a band is from Europe on a flyer in the U.S. it
won't really make a difference unless people have heard of the band before.
6. You traveled to Eastern Europe, a thing that not
too many American bands do. How did you see it compared to the western part?
It kinda had the same
effect as the U.S. to Europe thing. Bands don't come to your part of Europe
that often so you all seemed to really appreciate it and tried your hardest to
make us feel welcome, and we did. Some of our best shows were in Eastern Europe
and if a band has the time/money to get over there I'd strongly suggest it.
7. Massachusetts and Boston had and still has one
of the most productive hardcore punk scenes, how was it to experience this
first hand? How much influence did it have on Beartrap?
I grew up right outside
Boston so i was very lucky that i could take trains into the city and see bands
before i could drive. I also grew up in a town (Stoughton)where the older kids
had bands that i could go see down the street from my house, so I got started
at a really young age. As a whole it really influenced BearTrap because as i
got older i could see all the good and bad parts of the scene and roll it all
into one and take from it what i could
8. In recent years there’s been somewhat of a
fast hardcore/powerviolence “revival”. Bands like Coke Bust, Vaccine, Punch are
very popular right now. What’s your intake on this?
It all comes in waves.
Friends show their friends this older band they want to sound like and next
thing you know a bunch of bands are doing it. Right now this style isn't the
biggest thing in hardcore/punk in Boston really, those bands you mentioned do
good pretty much any state they play in, but right now in Boston its more of
the 80's punk/hardcore sound that is doing real well. Bands like Boston
Strangler are what bring the most kids out here now a days.
9. The border between underground and mainstream
seems to get a little blurrier each year. How do you see hardcore and punk
developing over the next years?
I see the people who care about it being more
underground tunneling further down and it will just divide the scene more. Ill
use this as an example. When Magrudergrind had a cd put out for free by scion,
a lot of people hated on them for it. If you had a rich friend who said
"hey, i am gonna pay for all your recordings,and put them out FOR FREE so
all your fans can just have this new album" would you do it? I know Scion
is a multi-million dollar corp, but do you think anyone picked up that
Magrudergrind cd and said " holy shit, I have to go buy a scion!" I
don't. It is "smashing the system" by using their money for our own
personal gain.
10. Do you think that the hardcore scene has the potential to be more
than just an outlet, to be a force of change? I’m asking this because I noticed
that there is this trend of focusing on personal politics, rather than broader
issues or even issues concerning our community.
I do feel like it has,
and will continue to be a force of change, it just depends on the level the
person takes it to. If it changes 1 persons mind/opens someones eyes to something
new it's done its job in my book.I also feel like it is an awesome personal
outlet too, and that can help people nationally just as much. If some kid sat
down and was bummed out they didn't "fit in" and read my lyrics and
then thought"fuck it,who needs to fit in anyway" that would be just
as important to me.
11. What do you think about DIY ethics?
DIY enables me/anyone
else to do what they want to do so its probably the best/most important mindset
to have really. You don't always have to be the most DIY but it sure does help
when you wanna get shit done
12. You have a new album coming out on To Live A Lie Records. Can you
spare some details?
The new record is called
Sleep Eradication which is a play off of an X-files episode where the
government cuts soldiers cerabellums so they don't ever have to sleep, creating
a super soldier. Only 1 song is about that. The other 7 are about personal
politics,veganism,or anger in general. It is out now so hit up to live a lie
and see if you can get order it from somewhere
13. What are your future plans with Beartrap?
Right now we are gonna lay low, live real life
for a minute and then in 2013 we are gonna do some huge tours,hopefully have a
new record out by then.
14. Do you have any other projects?
At the moment I don't have any that are doing
anything
15. Ok, that’s it. Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions!
Thank you for the
interview,hopefully we cross paths again soon!
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