IE: So Mike Dixon, one half of your OG singing duo is back in the mix for at least the summer of 2013. How the hell did this happen and how long has it been since Mike was in No Redeeming?

Major Damage: Yes the rumors are true. Haters be damned!! Many people, including us, never thought this would ever happen. Long story short…as is the NRSV way, we’ve all been friends for the majority of our collective lives, so really it was a natural occurrence. I always told Mike that “the door is always open”. After the recent death of our close friend, mentor, and hero Jim Starace (of Norman Bates & the Showerheads), Mike approached us about writing new songs and participating more in NRSV. Over the years Mike has done a few songs here and there with us, but his time was limited due to family and work commitments. Nevertheless, the important and special thing about our band is that we are family and friends and even though members aren’t currently “appearing” with the band, everyone is a huge part of what we do on the regular. As our friend Vinny Stigma said “There is no retirement plan in hardcore…you gotta die to get out”. Same thing with NRSV.

IE: You guys have plans to record a new EP with Mike and you are playing the This Is Hardcore Fest this August. Start off with the EP. Are there any details on it yet and when we can expect it?

Major Damage: The major intention of Mike re-joining the band was to write and record new material. We’ve been working on lots of new songs and we feel strongly that the new songs will be as classic as the established hits. Our plan is to record them as soon as we feel comfortable, and have the time. With NRSV there is never really a “time schedule”, but we hope to get into the studio in the next several months and have something out shortly thereafter. We’ll probably put it out on Dead City Records…that’s our peeps. I can’t give away much more info on any of that except to say that there will be lots of NRSV style drinking songs on the record. As for the This Is Hardcore Fest….we are happy to be included on the festival, and flattered to be asked to play.  The TIH promoter was a NRSV fan from back in the days and he runs a great event which we are excited to lace up the docs and jump into. If NRSV is there, you know it’s gonna go from a hardcore show to a full-on party. We’re pulling out all the stops for any and all recordings or shows…so get ready to party like its 1988. 

IE: With This Is Hardcore who approached who in regards to getting on the bill?

Mike D: When Grey Area were invited to play the 2012 TIH event.....they asked if I could help roadie for the band. I had heard of the TIH show, but was unaware of the magnitude of the show. I was busy loading equipment for the band backstage and a random person said to me "What the fuck are YOU doing here?" At first I thought it was some guy who I probably banged his sister in the 90’s and never called her back. I turned and it ended up being Joe Hardcore, the promoter and head guy of this event.  We talked briefly and he said to me that NRSV should play this show next year......but....with the original 2 singers. I kinda laughed it off because I really didn't think anybody would be interested in seeing that. As the day went on and I constantly ran into fans of the band, I realized that maybe there were a few heads out there that might be into it. I called Dean from the event and he also laughed it off and we really never spoke about it again. When we reunited to write new material I told the guys I think Joe Hardcore may be into letting us play....I just have to contact him. Sure enough Joe did not forget meeting up with me and the rest as they say is history.

IE: What can people expect on the afternoon of August 11th in Philadelphia and how are you whipping Mike Dixon back into game shape for this run of shows coming up?

K-Love:  People can expect to see us rocking the party…that’s what we do. Many fans of NRSV have never seen the dual singer experience. Many younger people’s exposure to NRSV has only been with one singer, and many older fans haven’t seen us since Mike departed. So, I think it’s gonna be a big surprise for everyone. We are rehearsing as we always do, with lots of 40’s and blunts, so that’s pretty much on par with our usual antics. We’ll be playing hits spanning the years, maybe a lost classic, or a rare cover….show up and find out.

Seeweed: With whips, you know, old school style, hahaha..….also lots of beer, weed, whiskey, and practice, practice, practice….and then more beer.  

IE: Other OG members Vinny (drums) and Scott (bass) will also be rejoining the band for the upcoming months. Can you tell us how things are going to work with recording and playing live shows considering your current bass player and drummer (Franko and Seeweed) are still very much part of NRSV?

Major Damage: Here’s the deal…our current line-up IS NRSV and will remain intact probably forever, or longer. Our plan is to bring the “inactive” members back into the mix to help us with recording new songs, and a mini-documentary. We want to make it a “family affair”. NRSV has always worked together as an extended family and we’ve remained friends over the years whether an individual was actively playing in the band or not. That is one of our greatest assets and we certainly want to exploit that and have the new songs represent our present, our future, as well as our past. Having Mike D, Vinny Value and Scott on board with any project we do only makes us that much stronger. My greatest blessing in life is being involved in anything with all these guys.

IE: Can you tell us more about this documentary you want to make?

Major Damage: We want to make a “history” of the band in the form of a mini documentary that isn’t just entirely concert clips, but rather interviews, stories, etc…that really tells the story of NRSV. Where we came from how we got together and how and why we are still NRSV today. Everyone will be involved…as always…current band members, past members, surprise guest interviews, etc….The vision is to tell the story of NRSV as people, as a band, and most importantly as a family. I think an important part of moving into the future is to tell our version of the past up until now. 

IE: Back in ’04 you put out a DVD called “NRSV Hardcore TV” which was pretty much a mish mosh of funny clips and interviews along with videos and a lot of skits and just overall funny shit. Are you trying to make this new documentary something a bit different or just kind of update things between then and now?

Major Damage: When our first DVD (“HCTV”) came out it was one of the first NYHC DVD’s out there. We are proud of it and it was a lot of work, but a big success. We were messing with the idea of either throwing all our collective VHS footage in the trash or doing something with it. So it was footage collected by all of us through various means over the years, up until that point. Scott NRSV (bass) was the mastermind and editor of that whole project, which later became a career for him. At that time, that DVD represented what many people understand us to be – the drunkest dudes at the party… that’s our rep and it comes across loud and clear in the “HCTV” DVD. This second attempt will be different in that the vision is to tell the story of a bunch of guys that developed this brotherhood/ fraternity through pursuing punk rock music as a big part of our lives for the past 25 years. The vision is to tell this side of the story of the individuals, our lives, stories (good, bad and ugly), and the how and why of why we are all still involved today, and where we wanna go from here. It will be different from the first DVD in that this will be much more of a personal story. You will laugh, cry, love and learn with us. Everyone will be involved as part of the NRSV family. Lots of interviews, funny stories, hardcore history lessons, etc…

IE: Going back to when Mike Dixon initially left the band…The way I remember hearing how Mike left was that you were on tour in Europe and all of a sudden Mike just wasn’t there. I want to get to the bottom of this and find out what really happened. I think the story I heard the most was that a lot of the European venues were feeding you vegetarian meals and Mike couldn’t take it after awhile and he went nuts. CNN, The National Enquirer, and TMZ have never been able to get to the real story so can we finally break it here at In Effect?

Major Damage: There are MANY different versions of this story, rumors, tales…strange and weird. Some true, some greatly exaggerated, some that are somewhere in the middle. What you re-canted in your question is a somewhat accurate synopsis of the end result of the overall events as I recall them. However, it’s not the whole story… which is pretty simple really. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….It was a VERY stressful time for NRSV. Our first CD (NRSV “Rocks The Party”) was just out, and it was our first real tour. We were moving into an area as a band that many of the situations we were involved in were out of our comfort zone and out of our control at the time. Basically we were moving out of our garage into recording studios, record shops, radio stations, and venues around the world. We weren’t (and aren’t) some big rock band that was gonna conquer the world and make a living as a band and frankly, we didn’t want to. We were (and still are) just a bunch of drunk dudes from Queens trying to have a few laughs and get some free beer. Once money, and companies, and promoters, and venues got involved everything took off very fast for us, too fast. Combine that with the mass amounts of partying we were doing (which wasn’t exaggerated), and outrageous lifestyles, and it all came to a head, as in, “how did we get here, and do we really wanna be here??”  For Mike, it was the same as any other member that ever left our band (and there are a lot of them), it just became too much stress for what it was supposed to be. We just wanted to have unbridled fun with no responsibilities…but that’s not how life works kids. So, Mike didn’t like the situation at the time and quit. The timing couldn’t have been worse, of course.

IE: How much did the other guys in the band hate Mike for doing this when it was happening?  I think you guys finished the tour though, correct?

Major Damage: At the time it was VERY shocking on many levels. Emotionally, it was crushing. Our best friend and brother quit the band. We were in the middle of the tour and we were going through so many emotions. We were playing every night and working and partying very hard. Then suddenly, it was like being in an Iditarod and having your lead dog die while you are in the middle of a fucking glacier…how do you continue? Do you have a funeral? Do you just sit down in the snow and cry? Do you just smoke a fat spliff, shake off the bad vibes, and rock on as best you can?? We chose the latter, which is why we are still here as a band today. It was the make or break point for us for all eternity. It formed our attitude as a unit from that moment on, and we bathed in it, and we still do. So perhaps it was the BEST thing to ever happen to our band in the form of the worst thing. Luckily, Kevin/SFT Records was on tour with us and being our friend and label guy knew our whole set. He was instrumental in helping us get through the tour and that rocky time. You see, that is the lesson really, and what we took from it is that we had to keep going because our purpose was bigger than one person, it was a family affair and we had to keep going for one another. Like I said, many people have been in this band over the years (too many to count on two hands AND two feet), and many have quit. It takes a lot of heart to stick it out with us, and I will NEVER begrudge or say a bad word about anyone that quit our band for any reason. I totally understand.  Being in this band can sometimes be a heartbreaker, a complete test of will and fortitude – but that’s why we are “TRULY HARD CORE” ie our “THC” album… that’s an In Effect exclusive right there. No one probably ever knew where that album name came from and what it means.

IE: Back in 1997 you guys "graced" the cover of In Effect #10. I remember asking you guys for a cool band photo and I would consider putting you on the cover of that issue. Give us a little info on who came up with the idea of wearing tuxedos, where you took it and all that…

Mike D: The day we did the photo shoot for In Effect Zine was the same day H20 had a record release party for their first album. We misread the invite to the record release party and thought it was a black tie event. 

K-Love: Haha! That was a good time. We were thrilled as shit when we had the opportunity to be on the cover of In Effect. All of our heroes graced the cover of the fanzine and everyone in the scene knew it was THE zine. So it was a really big thing for us. In the 90's we used to hang out every weekend downtown on St. Marks Place at a bar (at the time, called Bull McCabes. Every weekend if you wanted to find NRSV, you knew where we were gonna be…at Bull McCabes! They had a patio at the front of the bar that we used to take over and hold court. Every week, we would roll up to the spot and meet a bunch of peeps that also used to roll around over there. After we would hit up Coney Island High, then CBGB's, and the Wetlands, and occasionally ABC No Rio. At the time, and for a while, there were tons of great hardcore shows every weekend. So Bull McCabes was the perfect spot, that we could get the party started at each week, be close to all the action, be outside on a beautiful day and always be in the mix with everyone that had the same plan as us...drink all day and see some great bands. As far as deciding on a place to take the picture, there was no decision by us. The decision was made automatically by our fierce desire for alcohol each week. Being our usual fun loving selves, we figured, you know what!!!?? - we need a change in our image. People think we are just a bunch of scum rocks. We wanted to say, “hey, we are some classy muthafuckas yo!”  We all bought some sweet ass tuxedos, bow ties and all. On that day, it was like doors opened for us everywhere! People treated us nice that day, just because of the suits. We even ran into MCA and Ad Rock on St. Marks as they were making their way across town. They stopped to give us props and see what the deal was with 5 skinheads, drunk as skunks, hanging around wearing suits. After the photo shoot at Bull McCabes, we rolled over to CB's where H20 was playing. We moshed our dicks off in our suits and had a great fucking time. Those were the days man!  We made sure that our chance to be on the cover of In Effect was gonna be a memorable one, and raise a few eyebrows too.

IE: When you think back over 25 years of being in this band what are some of the things you are most ashamed of?

Franko: Before I was in the band I was their tour manager. Seeing them play completely nude in Leipzig Germany in 1999 was insane. Not that I wanted to see that. Me and the rest of the crowd had no choice. The promoter paid them extra for a nude encore…that was scary. I once saw Kent (K-Love) so wasted he could not operate his own fingers…a bad thing for a guitar player. I once saw the old drummer James grab a tattoo gun from a tattooist and give himself a tattoo in France because the tattoo artist sucked. Once, Dean (Major D) wanted to fight me in Tokyo right before we hit the stage because the promoter did not have enough small pink shirts (long story),  and for a bunch of skinny guys. I have never seen someone eat as much food as I have seen Dean and Kent eat when they are wasted –and I ain’t talking just normal food, I’m talking crazy Japanese creepy fish unknown meats and wacky vegetation and sweets from foreign lands. Fuckin’ animals these guys are. Hahahaha.

Glen: Not bedding the 2 S&M chicks who performed after our set in Osaka. It was looking good (one even said to me, “I want to go home with you” while caressing my thigh- too bad I didn’t have a “home” anyway at that point as I was in Japan…) and then our promoter got drunk and I had to carry him home instead!! That was incredibly shameful… I was so pissed!  Also, opening up for Insane Clown Posse at the Gramercy Theatre – juggalos suck!!

K-Love: I try to live by a simple moto "No Regrets”… so overall,  I'm not too ashamed of anything!  But other people were definitely offended by our behavior many, many times One time, (at what used to be L’amour in Brooklyn) about 2-3 years ago, we played a Halloween show.  As per usual, whether we are playing a gig or just chillin', I like to enjoy the holiday by being an idiot and wearing a crazy ass costume. As a band....weeks before, we had an idea about an all black/African, Black Sabbath cover band named "Black Stabbath".  We decided that the best, most appealing costume would be to go as Black Stabbath, but of course we weren't black so we needed to be in blackface.... of course. The show was a good line up but the gig was poorly run, and the show was running really late. This was a matinee show, and there was another gig happening after we played…some kind of club music crap'olla. In addition, there was a club gig happening already at the other side of the club, around the block. This place was fucking huge, and packed. So it’s our turn to hit the stage. As usual we set up all our stuff, but this time super quick, like lightning speed, like never before because, we knew that we had to set up, and get back stage to get into "black face" for the big Black Stabbath gig. Having never dressed in such an offensive manner we were not fully aware of the time it would take to perfect this moronic stunt. After about 20 minutes, we looked like something out of an old racist Abbott & Costello skit, and it was time to go rock some tunes. We hit the stage with a bag of confetti and a case of Olde-E. As we strapped on our axxxes, and hit the first note I remember looking into the crowd and seeing Kattan (ya'll know him) doing windmills in the middle of the dance floor amongst a bunch of teeny bopping club chicks. Club music was blasting at this point, overpowering any sound coming from our amps. I'm thinking to myself, that’s weird... where did all the hardcore kids go??  Out of the 120 hardcore kids that where in the crowd, there was only 1 left... Kattan! 

Then, I thought to myself, wow, this is nice for a change... instead of bald shirt-less dudes, there’s a boat load of club girls. It was apparent at that point, that the bouncers had kicked all the hardcore kids out and ended the show while we were getting ready. Kattan was the last of the crowd! The club was now filled with 200 club kids, many of which were of African American decent, and clueless about hardcore music, and No Redeeming Social Value. Mouths dropped as No Redeeming Social Value and the Brew Crew hit the stage. Still ringing out an open E chord, I looked over to my right towards the DJ booth to see the DJ (also of African American decent) mouth the word "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS??????" to his crew of 8-9 big ass dudes. Now ringing into feedback on my guitar, D Thriller hits the stage and grabs the mic to verbally assault... and I get a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and some big bouncer guy was yelling in my face.  I couldn't hear him over the feedback so I turned down the guitar to see what this dudes issue was. He was saying with a crazy look on his face..." you can’t do this, you CAN’T do this!" I thought he was talking about us white bread looking mutha fuckers, dressing up in black face, decked out in bell bottoms, African beads, and authentic Dashiki's. He kept going on... "you guys CAN’T DO THIS!" Finally, I asked this big dude, "do what? dress in black face?". He paused for a second, mulled it over in his head, looked at the crowd, turned back to me and said, ”WELL…YEAH, THAT TOO!! But, this show is over... the club just opened up and you guys gotta go”. Well, let’s just say, that was the shortest set we never played!  We spent the rest of the night drinking what was left of the case of Olde-E out in front of the club dressed as Black Stabbath. It was a successful gig, one of our best/ weirdest/ most offensive.  

IE: You have two un-official members of the band who always seem to pop up for a No Redeeming gig. What have Alan (Big Bud) and the No Redeeming Chicken been up to these days?

Franko: Both are retired. But the chicken just can’t seem to say out of retirement.

Seeweed: Well, we have all of our “stage props” fight MMA style fights from time to time for our enjoyment so they are both recuperating right now…

K-Love: The chicken is slowly recovering from a broken wing, from one of our last gigs.  Alan is living large and in charge as a porn star these days. His ass can be seen in the finest films Hungarian porn companies offer so he's been busy with that, he’s taken a step back from the stage. 

IE: With the economy being so bad right now would you ever consider lending out either of these guys to other bands?

Franko: Lend?? No way!!. There is a finders’ fee of $1200 per 15 minutes of use. Pay up bitches!

Seeweed: Well, while some have offered (even paid) to BE the chicken or Alan- no one seems to WANT them…Big Bud’s sack is too intimidating and the chicken is just too crazy for most…

K-Love:  Actually, we have lent out Big Bud to another band. When we were on tour with Vision in Europe, the guys in Vision loved Big Bud. They couldn't get enough of him, neither could the crowd. People always had a good time when Big Bud was in the mix. For 4 or 5 shows on that tour, Big Bud did a special guest appearance with Vision each night. Not something one would expect to see during Vision’s set. The crowd went wild! People were pulling at his draws and all. The Polish and the Japanese are Big Bud’s biggest fans, generally.  

IE: If No Redeeming never existed right now I would be ___________________.

(Fill in the blank)

Major Damage: If NRSV never existed, I’d be in jail. No doubt.

K-Love:  I would be the most boring mutha fucker in the world. Myself and my brother,

D-Thrilla started this band when I was 12 and he was 18. I traded Boy Scout meetings for rock and roll on Friday nights. The main purpose of starting this band was to have fun.... and over the years, even though some rather un-fun stuff happened along the way.... that is the same purpose of why we do it today. There is no way, I would've had the friends I have today, no way I would've been able to see the world and our great country , no way I would've been able to have 25 years of fun… if not for hardcore. Hardcore opened a new world for me when I needed it the most. God only knows where I would be if not for hardcore and NRSV. It keeps me grounded and focused on one of the most important things in the world…friendship. It’s been my excuse to get together with these guys every week. Who knows? Maybe I would've been a doctor, a lawyer, a porn star but I don’t think my life could be any better. Thank God we all have this thing we call "hardcore"... whatever "hardcore" is... it is a good thing!

Seeweed: If No Redeeming Social Value never existed right now I would be less of a drunk, much more thoughtful of others, not as close to death or rehab, and happier having my rights slowly stripped away by our government.

Mike D:  If No Redeeming Social Value never existed I would probably have a lot less tattoos, a lot less explicit experiences with drunken whores and a much lower tolerance for alcohol. 

Franko: Probably a hell of a lot better off. But if given the choice…I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat!