IE: You have done a ton of work in the past drawing album covers and t-shirt designs for many bands without having a working company name behind it. It was just "oh Ernie from BTJ or Ernie from Token Entry drew that. What made you want to make this stuff you do more "legitimate" if I can call it that for lack of a better term?

Ernie: Well, let’s just say that I’m trying to be responsible and build for the future. But the truth is that it’s another hold out from being in a band. The best part of a band is choosing the name, the style, the players... in essence the beginning. I guess that feeling is what I'll always be chasing. I wanted to have a cool name and a cool logo. I mean, who doesn't?

IE: For our non-Queens friends please tell us the reason for the Hellgate name.

Ernie: The Hellgate Bridge is a huge, beautiful arch bridge that was built in the early 1900's it goes from Astoria to over Wards/Randalls Islands, through the Bronx and up north from there. There’s a hell of a lot of history in the water below, like the General Slocum Disaster, but its significance, as detailed in the movie "Queens Logic" was that some of the crazier kids in the neighborhood would climb the bridge all the way up to the top of the arch. I was one of those kids. Nuts. Here’s a really cool video of that experience: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txGi4Zyrmrw

IE: How old were you when you discovered that you were a really good artist and what kind of stuff we're you attracted to drawing?

Ernie: Ha. When I was a little kid, my parents would get me coloring books and I would try to copy them rather than color them. When I was 13 or 14, I was taking figure drawing classes at the Art Students League from nude models (with Andy Gortler from the Devil Dogs, who was in Gilligan's Revenge with me at the time). I fell in love with Picasso, and Matisse, but the work that really drew me in was John Holmstrom's work for the Ramones and Sean Taggart's work, ESPECIALLY Agnostic Front's "Cause For Alarm" cover.

IE: I also wanted to touch on some older hardcore stuff. When you break down where the majority of NYHC bands were from in the late1980's it was Queens that probably had the most representation.  Within the group of bands from Queens a ton of people were from Astoria...including yourself. Just off the top of my head I can think of Murphy’s Law, Outburst,  Leeway, Kraut, and obviously Token Entry.  What was in the water there and why do you think so many people in bands back then called Astoria home?

Ernie: Gorilla Biscuits, Urban Waste, Major Conflict, Reagan Youth, Heart Attack,The Mob... the list goes on! Haha. You're right about that. I have no Idea! It was a blast though! 

IE: What was it like growing up there and how did you find hardcore and punk rock? When you first found the music were there a ton of kids that you knew also into it or were you like a lone wolf finding out about the music on your own?

Ernie: I learned about music as a whole through punk rock. I never "came over" from metal like so many people my age. The first band I ever cared about in my life was Queen, the second was Black Sabbath, the third? Ramones. After that it was all about Minor Threat singles, "Flex Your Head" and the "Process of Elimination" EP. I learned about the Ramones when I was maybe 9 years old. I had big brothers who were discovering this stuff early but that was it! There was no one else in all of society who even knew what this stuff was (or so it would seem) until one day we saw a kid riding a bike with a Clash shirt on. This was a breakthrough! We had to know who he was. We introduced ourselves and met for the first time Johnny Feedback, who would later be the drummer in Kraut. I'm talking about 6th and 7th graders here.

IE: Was Gilligan's Revenge who later became Token Entry your first real band? How did you find the other early members?

Ernie: Yes Gilligan's Revenge was the first band I ever started (and still the best band name out of all of them, if you ask me). The members were essentially Johnny Steigerwald (who would later be in Token Entry) me, and whoever else we could find. It was tough to keep the other two members. John Wood was the singer for a while (very popular then, but disappeared, and is missing to this day) and Anthony Comunale (later of Killling Time) replaced him, until we changed the name to Token Entry.

IE: What were those early days of Token Entry like? Did you see it as a serious band (touring, multiple full length releases, big following) from the get go or did it kind of just turn into one?

Ernie: None of this stuff was planned. None of it. In those days, being in a hardcore band was not a sound career decision as it is today. Who the hell thought that hardcore would last more than 30 years, when hippies and that sort of stuff was dead in less than 10? I mean a kid that is listening to the first 7 Seconds record today (and there are many) is listening to something 30 years old. That’s like a kid in the 2000’s listening to some sort of underground disco record from the 70’s. I know when I was a kid in the 80's, I couldn't care less what underground music was like in the 50’s! But no, hardcore somehow strikes a chord of truth, on an emotional level, and it speaks to something that we all feel, and as a result, lasts through decades. The only difference is in the 80’s, we were inventing it. Now, there are some tried and true formulas to follow.

IE: I loved those first two Token Entry full lengths but always wanted to ask a band member what happened musically with TE 's 3rd and final full length "The Weight Of The World"... it was so off/different from the band's previous work. Was the band trying to go in a different direction or did you guy just hit a wall? What happened there?

Ernie: Well, what happened there was a series of things. Part of it was a desire to not just play a thrash beat, again, for a whole album, and part of it was Dr. Know trying to get something out of us, that we probably didn’t have in us to begin with.

IE: We have seen you play on drums, guitar, guitar while singing and sometimes just with a mic on stage. Which one are you most comfortable doing?

Ernie: Just guitar I think. If I think about it as a whole, just being a singer is the easiest. You walk up, do your thing, and you walk off. Carry nothing…but as only a singer, I would feel too disconnected from the music making part of the experience. I’m a songwriter first and foremost. The drums, you're extremely involved, and it’s the easiest to do, but If I had a nickel for every time I was enraged with all the crap I had to rush on and off stage and carry around... the guitar is right in the middle. 

IE: What's going on with Grey Area these days. There hasn't been much in the way of shows over the last year and change. Do you plan on ramping things up again or is that not so likely?

Ernie: Oh no. I’m not done. Grey Area will be playing soon. Our drummer sustained an injury and we had to take time off.

IE: What else (if anything) are you currently doing musically?

Ernie: I’m thinking of doing a solo record. Just me. Not acoustic or anything like that, but I’d play bass, guitar, drums, and vocals. Of course there is my Halloween project I wanted to pull off, my tribute to the band Journey entitled "Jernie" but that’s just a pipe dream.

IE: Out of all the albums,  7"s, demos, etc that you have played on which one or two are the ones that bring you the most pride or satisfaction?

Ernie: Well, it would be a tie, but more than two. The second Grey Area record (“Fanbelt Algebra”) because of the experience in the studio. Phil Burnett and Noah Evans in Steely Dan's studio. The First Higher Giant (“The First Five”) because it was such a personal record. It’s a lot about me. Black Train Jack “No Reward” because this was the first time I was the only songwriter, and the whole record was my responsibility. And In Your Face (“The Grub”) because I don’t remember a single moment of angst or ass pain. This was total fun from beginning to end, so much that I don’t really know how we got anything done, really.

IE: Do you still feel like you have a lot to give musically to the punk rock and hardcore scenes?

Ernie: Jeez. That’s a tough one. I don’t know. Nowadays, my efforts are more in a visual sense, but yes I think I do.

IE: Thanks for your time Ernie!