IE: How long has this lineup as it is made up now been together and is it the original one?

Andrew: With our new drummer, the lineup has been like this for a little less than a month now. Me and James are the only original members.

IE: I guess one of the first things that comes to me when I think of your band is that you guys are road warriors. From digging through your old flyers you are about to set off on your 4th US tour of the year starting in a few weeks. Do you guys view yourselves as an oddity that you tour the US as often as you do when bigger named hardcore bands tend to just hit the bigger cities?

Andrew: Honestly when it comes down to it we don't care where we play. We will play any city as long as the kids wanna support us, hear what we have to say, and have a good time. We just love to play and tour.

IE: When you look over your tour flyers from just 2013 you see that you have hit many cities that may not necessarily be known for their hardcore scenes. Places like Witchita, Tulsa, Cookville, TN, Mobile, AL, and Savannah GA to name a few. What are you finding out there on the road these days as far as hardcore scenes go and does “hardcore still live” as many like to say?

Andrew: It's very hit or miss. Sometimes you can expect a really odd bumblefuck city to be a barren scene but it turns out to be a crazy show where kids are super supportive.

IE: I did an interview with Kill Your Idols awhile back and when asked to give advice to younger bands they said something along the lines of when touring to try and hit the smaller cities, the ones that are just a dot on the map and it seemed that they got much better crowds at these smaller cities than the bigger ones. That was back in 1999. Does this still hold true today in your opinion?

Andrew: Like I said in the previous question, it can be very hit or miss. It can also depend on the promoter at times as well. Even the big cities can have a show be a bust. When it comes down to it though I'd be happy playing to just 5 people who are into us or have never heard us.

IE: What are some of the smaller towns/cities that you have played that may have surprised you in regards to how many people showed up and crowd participation?

Andrew: We played Ogden, Utah and I have never heard of Ogden Utah before that. I was used to hearing people playing SLC but when we played we played to 200 people and they all went off. That was insane.

IE: What would your advice be for younger bands today in 2013 if they are just starting out and planning a DIY tour?

Andrew: Be prepared to stress the fuck out...booking tours is super stressful, especially if you're not aboard the hype train and don't have all the right friends in all the right places.

IE: Name one band that you have found out there on the road that people should know more about.

Andrew: I think more people should get into Everything Went Black. We've toured with them and their great friends and they definitely deserve more attention. 

IE: How important is Facebook to Vice, especially when it comes to putting together these tours and where do you think you would be without it?

Andrew: Without Facebook many tours would not be getting booked haha. And it is definitely useful for promotion. I'm sure I could do without it. That reverts back to the whole Internet controversy in hardcore. It's a negative and a positive. When I think about that I think about the 108 documentary where you see them on the phone calling people out of an address book for shows. Really puts it in perspective.

IE: Kind of hard to deny that a bunch of guys from Staten Island would be doing a DIY tour with Afflictive Nature (TX) and Jungle Juice (AR) without it, no?

Andrew: Well I found Evan from Jungle Juice through email about booking us a show in Arkansas a while back and I definitely dug them. Also Afflictive Nature is tight with Jungle Juice so that's how that came about. Both are solid bands.

IE: You were saying a few months back that you were looking into getting rid of your pickup truck and replacing it with a van. What were you driving before and what are you guys rolling in these days?

Andrew: We actually just picked up a van a couple days ago. First van ever. Before that we've done all 6 tours plus countless weekends and what not in a pickup truck.

IE: I would guess with all the touring in a pickup truck that whether or not you want it to that trouble is gonna find you at some point. Any stories where the cops had to be called in?

Andrew: One time on our first tour we were hanging out in a parking lot in Kentucky and they told us to leave so we left without a problem and then all of a sudden 4 cop cars surround us and tell us to put our hands up, order us out, search the whole truck and tell us after that apparently someone called them on the suspicion of us being drug dealers from New York...haha 

IE: I wanted to also get into your sound. You guys fly the NYHC flag proudly but in a lot of ways you do NOT play the traditional NYHC sound. You have a lot of grind/power violence in your sound… where does this come from as far as what you guys all listen to?

Andrew: We all listen to hardcore especially NYHC obviously, but there's a lot of other sounds that come to it. We're very drawn to power violence bands. Charles Bronson. Dropdead. Left For Dead. Spazz. A lot of the newer bands as well like Trash Talk, Weekend Nachos, Magrudergrind, Dangers.

IE: Describe your sound to someone who has never heard you.

Andrew: Fast. Heavy. The way I always describe it is just hardcore meets powerviolence. Simple. Just fast hardcore haha.

IE: A main theme in your lyrics is anger. There is a lot of it in there and just gotta ask how did you get so damn angry?

Andrew: Haha. I just feel like I'm alone when it comes to how I feel on many things in life whether it’s hardcore music, mentality, out looks on touchy subjects. All that shit. I always like to think outside of the norm and I just feel like everyone is full of shit and no one wants to realize it.

IE: What was it like growing up on Staten Island for you?

Andrew: I'm not gonna sit here and bullshit you and say I've had a rough life. My mother was great to me. My family was a little fucked up but ya know, who's isn't? But growing up here is whack. It's a conform or die mentality. I've lived my whole life getting weird looks because I don't dress and act a certain way. It comes with the territory of being a part of the hardcore community though, which Staten Island doesn't have haha. That also is rough. There is no hardcore scene. It's just us.  

IE: What kinds of things in your everyday life just piss you off?

Andrew: Everyone's bullshit.  Fake attitudes. The everyday task of booking tours and not getting answers because we're not cool enough yet they'll go online and say support hardcore and unity and DIY and blah blah blah. Don't post it online. Do it. Fake kids in hardcore who are mainly on the hype train. Online merch that goes for 300 dollars. Work. I hate work. The list goes on haha. 

IE: There is an upcoming documentary about Staten Island Hardcore being done by some of your friends. Can you tell us more about it?

Andrew: Yes. Our buds Ant Lefty and Sam Peralta are doing a documentary about the history and present state of Staten Island hardcore. It's gonna have a lot of great interviews from awesome bands like CR. Sheer Terror, all the local bands that made Staten Island hardcore thrive. We're honored to be a part of it.

IE: Upcoming for Vice is the new “Flawed” EP on Eulogy. This will be the first time you are working with them. How did this partnership come about?

Andrew: Our other label, Frequency Deleted Records who is putting out the vinyl have some bands who are on Eulogy so we reached out to Eulogy and John was interested so we went with it and we've been working with him. He's a great guy. Were definitely excited to release it on such an awesome label.

IE: What can we expect from the "Flawed" EP? Will that grind influence still be there? Are the songs longer in running time? Give us some details on the new stuff please.

Andrew: Well the song "Since Birth" is on YouTube so you can get a taste of the first song off the album from that. Definitely still grindy. It's heavier. More well put together in my opinion.  And it's not all over the place sound wise like “You Made Us This Way” was. (Listen to "Since Birth" via the You Tube link at the end of this interview). 

IE: You guys were done mixing and mastering this new EP back in April but it isn’t coming out until September. Why the long wait?

Andrew: Well we did 2 tours since it was recorded. And just getting all the artwork together and money and all that nonsense took some time as well. 

IE: Are you are already working on the follow up to “Flawed”?

Andrew: We would've been most likely but we just got a new drummer so we had to get him in with us and teach him the EP and the older songs. But we have some new material in the works well be taking a crack at after this tour in August/September

IE: When you aren’t touring you have Most Precious Prints which you run. How long have you been doing this and is it your full time job?

Andrew: That's actually run by James, our bassist. I have no part in the company haha. He's been doing it for a couple of months now and it's definitely picking up.

IE: What do the other guys in the band do when you all aren’t on a US tour?

Andrew: I work at a grocery store unfortunately and when I’m not on tour I’m doing something tour/Vice related. Dom is a plumber. And Alex does fencing. And we're always practicing or doing some other shit. We never rest haha.

IE: When is Europe and the rest of the world going to get a crack at seeing you live?

Andrew: Hopefully next year. We're really dying to get out there.

IE: That’s about it bro, thanks for your time. Anything else to add?

Andrew: Thank you for being interested in what I have to say. Also these questions were awesome. I had a lot of fun answering them. “Flawed” drops in September. Check out the preorders at merchnow.com and Frequencydeletedrecords.com

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