IE: Did all of you pretty much grow up in the same area?

Greg: Anthony, Joe, Ruben and Ray all grew up in Chula Vista.I was originally born in Virginia, but moved out to California in 1999. Our current bass player Randy grew up in San Marcos, a city in North County San Diego.

IE: How did you discover hardcore music?

Greg: I discovered hardcore music through my friend Aaron Hartman. I met him in my first year of high school. We became friends and started hanging out a lot. He was straight edge, and exposed me to a lot of good bands. He also played bass so we would jam with each other all the time.

IE: How did you learn how to play the guitar? You have some pretty killer solos on “Tables Will Turn”, not something you always see with a hardcore band.

Greg: The first instrument I got was a bass, back when I was in middle school. My friend Kyle at the time wanted me to play bass for this “punk band” he wanted to start. After pleading with my parents, I finally got a Squire P-Bass for Christmas. I just took to it immediately. My friend ended up not wanting to do the band anymore, but I still kept on playing. I ended up buying his guitar off of him for 20 bucks. I started messing around with the guitar and ended up switching to that. I felt like I had found my niche. My parents wanted me to take some lessons so I signed up at this place called the Academy of Music in downtown Chula Vista. It was this total hole in the wall spot. The guitar instructor there was this guy named David Shine. He was a total 70’s metal dude. He taught me a lot of great stuff.  All the basic fundamentals of guitar playing. When I got into high school all I did was play guitar every fucking day. I always thought guitar solos we’re bad ass so I never limited myself when it came to playing. A good riff is a good riff, regardless of the genre. Only fools limit themselves when it comes to music.

IE: You get comparisons to Suicidal Tendencies a lot in your reviews, were they a big influence? What about other bands who influenced you?

Greg: Rocky George from Suicidal Tendencies is one of my favorite guitar players of all time. Venice thrash is a very big influence in the Take Offense sound. Stuff like Excel, No Mercy, Uncle Slam, and Beowulf. Those are just perfect examples of crossover done right. So is NYHC. The guitar players from War Zone and Altercation made me want to do a dive bomb, not Dimebag Darrell haha. Dr. Know from the Bad Brains is another one of my influences when it comes to playing guitar. I will always think that the Bad Brains are one of the most important bands in the history of music.  

IE: What were some of the first albums you got and what were some of the first hardcore shows that you went to that you can recall?

Greg: I’d say the album that probably got me interested into music was the “Black Album” from Metallica. My brother had it on cassette when I was in elementary school.  I just remember digging it immediately. I’d say the first hardcore album I remember getting was “Damaged” by Black Flag, again through my brother. He was super into skateboarding at the time so he was always discovering music through videos and stuff. He then ended up getting into hip hop and graffiti while I stuck with metal and punk. Anyway I just thought that “Damaged” was a punk record at the time. It wasn’t till I met my buddy Aaron that I started getting into hardcore. I remember the first “hardcore” band I saw was Terror, back in 2003. They we’re playing with a bunch of metal bands and I remember seeing dudes destroying people in the pit and just being super intimidated by it all. My first “real hardcore” show was this backyard show in Chula Vista. Righteous Jams, Rampage, PC Death Squad (JLJ from OLC sang for this band), and my friends Cesar and Gabriel’s band Generation Broken opened.

IE: Although the band has been around for a few years you didn’t start touring until 2011 and you guys definitely made up for it with the amount of touring you did as you pretty much toured the entire year. Where did you guys go with the tours and was there any down time at all?

Greg: Here’s the amount of touring we did in 2011, with Naysayer  - January / February, Bitter End – March, Alpha & Omega - March / April, United Blood 2011 - April , Terror - May (was on the Stick Tight Tour for a couple of days going out to the BNB Bowl) , Black N Blue Bowl 2011 - May , Fire & Ice - June (Europe), Sound and Fury 2011 – July, Downpresser - July / August, Trapped Under Ice - October / November / Madball – December. For the most part, our down time was 3 to 4 weeks in between. I remember the longest we we’re grounded was for all of September. Now that I look at it, that’s pretty crazy.

IE: Did finally going out and playing all these shows and touring live up to what you expected it to be?

Greg: Honestly man, I had no idea how it was going to go for us when we started our first tour. We we’re super green and still are for the most part. Everything turned out great though. People seemed to dig us everywhere we played. Our van didn’t blow up and we didn’t blow up on each other. We started to get a good buzz going. When we played United Blood, that’s when I knew we we’re doing something right. The reaction we got was insane in a good way. It was such an amazing feeling.

IE: What are some of the harder things about being away from home so long?

Greg: I personally don’t mind being away from home at all. The hardest thing I had to do was let go of a really good job/schooling opportunity. I was making $20 an hour working as a plumbing and pipe fitting apprentice. My schooling was even paid for by the company I was working at. That one was hard for me to walk away from but you only live once right? I’m also fortunate enough to have parents that are really supportive of me pursuing this. I couldn’t ask any more from them.

IE: You guys are from Chula Vista CA and for someone like myself who is not an insider with the band it’s obvious that you guys take pride in being from there. What was it like growing up there?

Greg: I wasn’t born in Chula Vista. I moved out here in 1999 and have lived here ever since. What’s great about Chula Vista for me is the location. If I want to go to downtown San Diego it only takes me 15 minutes by car. If I want to go to TJ (Mexico), I just head south on the freeway for a couple of exits. Then I’m at the border. You’re not that far from any of San Diego’s beaches as well. We have fucking great Mexican food and gorgeous Latinas. Like any other city in America, you have your super nice and rough areas.

IE: What about the hardcore scene there and in the surrounding areas? Are there a lot of shows going on and a lot of local bands?

Greg: San Diego Hardcore is a really diverse scene. Lots of different sub genres down here. I would say things have slowed down in Chula Vista. There are no venues here. We had a venue a couple years back but stupid crew violence ended that. The Che Café was about to close down, but they managed to pull through and raise enough money to stay open. If the Che closed down, you could pretty much kiss real hardcore shows in San Diego good bye. I’d say the Che is San Diego’s number 1 D.I.Y. venue when it comes to hardcore. Of course you have your big venues like Soma that only book big metal tours. Sometimes bigger hardcore bands come through there like a Madball or Terror. As far as bands go, Chula Vista has Deadlined, Sleep Walk, Stopping Power, Down Again, and Cold Stare. Stopping Power and Sleep Walk are the most active of the bunch. Attendance at a show can be from 15 kids to 200. There are shows going down every month, but like I said before San Diego is very diverse, so a lot of kids don’t go to every show. Most stick to their sub genres, the beat down kids aren’t going to go to the power violence show and vice versa.

IE: It is no secret that a lot of hardcore kids are current or former graffiti writers or at least have an appreciation for it. Is it a big thing in your area?

Greg: The two can definitely be connected. I mean the influence graffiti had on the NYHC scene is really noticeable. My brother has been a writer for a while so I know that San Diego has a big graffiti scene. A lot of my brothers’ friends are into hardcore as well. I feel that hardcore, hip hop and graffiti have a lot in common with each other. Real shit is always going to be intertwined with other real shit.

IE: You have this new EP coming out in March on Reaper Records. Tell us a little bit about it.

Greg: “Under The Same Shadow” was recorded in two spots. We tracked drums and additional guitars with Chris Rakestraw at Sunset Lodge Studios in Los Angeles. The bulk of the recording was done at Nick Jett’s house who plays drums in Terror. The tracks we’re then taken to Matt Hyde’s (Slayer, Hatebreed) studio where Nick mastered them. The EP is 4 songs total. I feel it’s a definite progression from our last album in terms of song writing, skill level and production.  

IE: From listening to the promo track that Reaper is sending out it is noticeable right away that you got an amazing recording on this. Is everyone happy with how the whole EP came out and if you could go back and change anything would you?

Greg: Everyone loves the recording. There is absolutely nothing I would want to change on these tracks. I believe it’s the best recorded Take Offense material to date.  t was the first time we ever played to a click track, so everything sounds super tight. The tone on all the instruments is spot on. All props go out to Nick Jett who produced it. The man knows what he’s doing.

IE: This is going to be a vinyl only release. Personally I do not get this resurgence with vinyl and how it is almost pushing compact discs out the door. Where do you stand on this topic?

Greg: It just comes down to the fact that CD’s don’t sell well. We’re at the age where anyone can download any new album that comes out. You just have to adapt to that if you’re in a band. Most vinyl releases come with a digital download anyways. I feel that covers all the bases.    

IE: Did the band go to your label and ask for a vinyl only release or was it something they came to you and suggested?

Greg: Reaper approached us on doing a vinyl only release. Again the numbers show that vinyl out sells CD’s. We can use the money we would have put in for CD’s for other things, such as promotion. Our new EP will also come with a digital download. 

IE: For your own personal collection do you collect CD’s or vinyl?

Greg: Whatever I can get my hands on I guess. I have more vinyl over CD’s. 

IE: How did you guys end up joining Reaper Records?

Greg: We got hooked up with Reaper Records through Nick Jett. When we got the mixes for “Tables Will Turn” we sent them over to Nick. Nick then sent them over to Patrick Kitzel from Reaper. He really liked the tunes so he contacted us about putting it out via Reaper. I couldn’t be more happy with being on Reaper Records. Kitzel and his team’s dedication to putting out quality hardcore is unmatched in my opinion.

IE: You guys shot a video in late 2011. What song is that for and when can we expect it to be out?

Greg: The video is for the song “T.O. Zone”. We should have the video up by early March.  

IE: Is it a concept type video with a story line or is it more like the band just playing the song in front of the camera?

Greg: A little bit of both. The video starts off with me picking up Ruben and Joe from their houses while Anthony wakes up from his room and walks around his block, singing into the camera. He then meets up with Randy and they get picked up by me. We then drive to a popular skate spot in Chula Vista called the “Orange Ditches”. The movie Lords of Dogtown filmed some shit there. A bunch of our friends helped us load our gear in through a hole in the fence. We then proceed to play while dudes skate the ditch around us. All of this is going down while there is a perfect Southern California sun set. The video was shot entirely on the streets of Chula Vista.

IE: You had a few of your live sets streamed live on the internet through electricvenue.com and thetalentfarm.com.  Who initiated that and how has the feedback been?

Greg: Both venues approached us about our sets being streamed. To be honest, I haven’t really checked in to see if there was any feedback. I know The Talent Farm has an option where people can chat with each other while watching the stream. I’m sure they keep numbers on how many people tuned in. I guess we just never ever asked to see them.  

IE: Do you see the streaming of live shows as an upcoming trend for hardcore and would you recommend it to other bands? Do these sites pay you for the streaming?

Greg: It’s a trend I wouldn’t mind seeing develop. I think it has more to do with the venues and whatever their capabilities are. We have never been offered money when it comes to our set being streamed. I would recommend it to any band. Anyway for your band to reach people is a good thing in my opinion.

IE: So that’s about it, I am guessing we will see you guys out on the road touring, do you guys have the rest of the year pretty much all mapped out already?

Greg: Right now we’re going to be hitting the road with our friends in Xibabla and Soul Search. The tour is called “Los Tres Delinquentes Tour”, named after the Delinquent Habits song. The tour starts March 1st in San Diego (our record release) and ends at the United Blood festival in Richmond, Virginia March 30th and 31st. If all goes well, we will then be doing a live recording on BNB radio on April 3rd in NYC. Then we will be heading over to Europe to tour with Terror and Death Before Dishonor for all of April. We couldn’t be more excited.That’s all we have on the books so far but I’m sure the rest of year will get booked up pretty quickly. Shout outs to Jared Cluff, Patrick Kitzel, and Nick Jett. Thanks for the interview man. I think it’s awesome that In Effect back. Keep it up.