IE: So the news with The Rival Mob these days is that you are now part of the Revelation Records (Rev) family. When can we expect the new album and can you tell us about it?

Justin: The album is called "Mob Justice" and should be out on Rev at the end of February. 12 songs total...a few of the jams that were on the "Mob Justice" tape were re-recorded along with a bunch of new stuff that no one else has heard before.

IE: Your previous releases have had a range of sound qualities ranging from good to pretty good and that is putting it nicely. Where did you record this upcoming album and are you happy with how everything came out?

Justin: Our second guitar player, Trevor has his own studio in beautiful New Bedford, Massachusetts so we decided to record it there. I would say the recording isn't too far off from the other Rival Mob stuff: dirty guitars, big drums, etc etc. I'll tell you what though…I think the songs themselves are way better than previous releases. I'm usually super critical of my own shit (to the point where it's hard to even listen to it) but I gotta say I'm pretty satisfied with how it came out. Trevor worked hard making sure we were all happy with the finished product so you're not gonna hear me bitch and moan. Matter of fact, the guy is a fucking saint.

IE: Back in late 2012 Rev had the NY and California 25th Anniversary shows in NYC and in California. Was there ever any talk of them putting you on either of these weekends maybe to showcase the future of the label to go along with it’s past?

Justin: I guess there had been talks about us playing the NY one but in typical Rival Mob fashion we were late in signing our contract so it didn’t come to fruition haha. That's fine though, I wasn't really interested in playing someone else's high school reunion.

IE: You guys started out in 2007 and have a few releases out that are not necessarily easy to find. The “Hardcore For Hardcore” is on I-Tunes and easily obtainable but “Raw Life” and the "Mob Justice" cassette were not as easy to get. Was this something done more on purpose or more of a thing where the demand out did the supply of your labels or some other reason?

Justin: Nah, I would never try to play games in the hope of starting a frenzy. Hardcore is good enough at doing that on its own! The tape is not an official "release" per say, it was meant to be a little taster for the upcoming album and something we could sell at shows to pay for gas. I'm pretty sure there are a shitload out there. Same deal with “Raw Life”. Lockin' Out released the vinyl so it's not like it's this ultra rare cult record. Granted, it came out 4 years ago so the vinyl is gone but at the time we pressed 1000 on vinyl and I honestly didn’t think there were 1000 people WORLD WIDE who wanted a crummy Rival Mob record. Guaranteed if we pressed 1000 more I'd be using the boxes of unsold vinyl as furniture. As far as the music itself being uneasy to obtain, it took me 5 seconds to Google "Rival Mob Raw Life" and a bunch of blogspots with our entire discography in MP3 form came up haha, so there ya go!

IE: Are there any plans to re-issue or re-work some of the older tracks on to the new release or future releases so people can get their hands on those recordings?

Justin: Matter of fact there have been plans to re-master and re-release both the demo and “Raw Life” but so far nothing has really been set in motion. Tell you what though, if people are having a hard time finding our shit I’ll put up some links online so you can DL the stuff for free. I just have to buy a computer first...

IE: The members of The Rival Mob have a long list of other bands that they belong to as well. Can you give us a rundown of who is in what other bands and what they do in the other bands?

Justin: Doug plays bass in No Tolerance, World War 4 and Give. Trevor plays guitar in a band called Grip and Wolf Whistle, amongst a million other projects he has here or there. He also records bands at Coliseum studio. Brendan, Pearse and I all play in a band called Battle Ruins. Pearse plays bass, I drum, and Brendan sings. I'm also in another band Brendan sings for called Magic Circle but I play bass in that one. It's a doom metal band and Brendan sings in it the same way he sings in the shower every morning: beautiful and clean... I sing in No Tolerance and Mind Eraser (Brendan plays drums in M.E.) and I play drums in Prisoner Abuse, Death Evocation, Boston Strangler and World War 4. I have a death metal project called Innumerable Forms, but who's keeping track?

IE: How much does being in other bands sidetrack The Rival Mob’s progress if at all in your opinion?

Justin: It doesn't really. Rival Mob plays the most out of any of the bands I'm currently in. Most of the other bands I do only play once in a while so there's rarely a scheduling conflict.

IE: When any one of you gets ideas for new songs how do you determine what is a Rival Mob song and what might end up being a song for one of the other bands you’re in?

Justin: I feel at this point Rival Mob has a defined enough sound where I can hear a riff and know if it fits or not. In a similar way I feel like I can also determine who a Rival Mob fan is just by looking at them: If he’s a mutant, wears an eye patch and has a tattoo on his head, then I know he’s probably a Rival Mob fan. If she’s attractive, has Instagram and is under the age of 25, then she's probably a Rival Mob fan as well. I play the percentages...

IE: A few months back you played day 3 of the This Is Hardcore Fest in Philly which turned out to be a Saturday. As far as festivals go in the US it has become the premier one and is almost like a national hardcore holiday for many. What is going through your mind just seconds before you guys take the stage?

Justin: I’ll be honest. I get nervous as fuck when I'm playing in front of so many people. Especially when we aren't as well rehearsed, and if you've seen us before you know we have a tendency to fall off the rails at any given moment. I think I get especially nervous at high profile gigs like TIHC because I know that everyone is there and it will forever be captured on film and shot out into cyberspace to be seen until the end of time. I don't want to look like a complete jack ass, you know?

IE: I think they said they had about 3000 people there that day, is that the biggest crowd you ever played for? 

Justin: That's probably the biggest crowd I've played in front of. Another band I was in once opened for Dropkick Murphy's in Toronto and there were a ton of people but that doesn’t really count. They didn’t give a shit about who we were, they were moshing in between bands to the music over the PA for God's sake. I could have taken a dump on my drum set and they would have gone off. So anyway, yes the crowd at TIHC was the biggest crowd I ever played in front of.

IE: When the new record comes out what are the plans for touring?

Justin: Definitely doing a weekend in California in March. We will hit up Chaos In Tejas and Joe's fest this summer (TIHC). No plans for a crazy month long US tour or anything but we got a couple of offers to play Europe so we might do that. We will end up doing some more weekends here or there, hopefully hit up some places we don't normally play. We haven't talked to any other bands about doing something with us but I would especially love to play with Hoax, New Brigade, Give, Violent Reaction, Hounds Of Hate, Stick Together...

IE: And as far as past tours go for this band…. Can you give us a rundown as to where you have played and what are the places that you as individuals are really wanting to get to with this band?

Justin: We have done a lot of Northeast and East Coast stuff...Boston, NYC, Philly, DC, Baltimore, Syracuse, Richmond...We have done Chaos In Tejas (Texas) a bunch of times and So. Cal/Vegas as well. We are hitting up both Nor Cal and So. Cal in March so I'm psyched for that. Also plan on doing Chicago in the next few months and perhaps the Pacific Northwest as well. Like I said before I would love to do some European shows and I always wanted to play Australia and Japan (hint, hint)

IE: You probably learn a lot about your fellow band members while on tour because you are all with each other for the majority of the day. What are some of the other band member’s traits that you have noticed that come out when you guys hit the road?

Justin: Doug usually ends up being the tour dad in charge of booking and keeping in touch with promoters. He's the most responsible out of all of us. Pearse is in charge of befriending all the locals in each town we go to...drink with them, share laughs, etc etc. Trevor is comic relief and keeps all the tension and egos pacified. Brendan is the one that the kids pay their 8 bucks to see. I really don't bring much to the table (merch table, round table, or any other table for that matter) but I make sure to steal as much glory as I possibly can. As far as sketchiness goes, I'm by far the most sinister of the bunch...

IE: Favorite part of touring?

Justin: Love going to different towns and taking in the flavor. I'm not being sarcastic. Best times of my life have been on the road. A great show in a far away place is tough to beat.

IE: Least favorite part of touring?

Justin: Getting sick. I almost always get sick on tour. Don't ask me why...poor diet, lack of sleep, weak immune system? Who the fuck knows. I usually get everyone else sick as well so that's kind of a bummout. I was so sick on the No Tolerance tour we did in Europe a few months back I'm convinced it took years off of my life. Other than that though I don't have a lot of hang ups. I guess I don't like when other members get grumpy and catty with each other but I'm able to tune out the bullshit. I'm never "home sick" though, or miss friends and family. Wild and free, my man.

IE: When you think back to the places you have played what is the place or city that may have surprised you the most in that you weren’t expecting a whole lot but ended up having a great show?

Justin: I used to be shocked at how fucking awesome and crazy the shows in the South were but I'm no longer surprised. Shit is wild down there, and raw. That's how I like it. I personally love playing smaller towns and cities where bands don't usually make it through because you can tell people are amped and ready to go.

IE: If you had to pick a city to move to outside of your home state just based on what you have seen from your touring experiences where would it be and why?

Justin: Fuck I don't know. I don't see myself moving out of Boston any time soon but I’ll tell ‘ya what, I wouldn't be opposed to moving South...Deep South.

IE: What’s going on in Boston these days? Do all of you live within the city or close to it and can you give us a rundown on what bands/venues to check out if people are passing through there anytime soon?

Justin: I technically live in Boston but it's not exactly downtown and in the thick of it. Cool new bands, let’s see...a local act called Our Side plays that style of NYHC I dig. Also a fan of Peacebreakers, but hey, who isn’t? Venues are few and far between in the city but you can count on the Democracy Center in Cambridge to put on a happening gig every few weeks. Cambridge Elks still has shows, but that's pretty unfortunate.

IE: And before I forget… The “Mob Justice” cassette that was put out as a preview to the Rev release ends with “Philcore For Philcore”. It is the music of the song “Hardcore For Hardcore” but the regular vocals are swapped out for what sounds like just a bunch of mayhem…. What was going on with that song?

Justin: Just a few excerpts from the biggest Rival Mob fan on planet earth, Phil Anselmo. He played a classic Super Joint set at this Metal festival-thing many moons back so we decided to SPLICE in his previously unreleased vocal tracks to make a mega remix. It might be my favorite track on the tape.

IE: That’s about all I got, is there anything we may have missed that you guys want to throw in before we wrap things up? Thanks a lot for doing this interview.

Justin: Thanks a lot for the support brother, it's been fun.