Photo by: Tami Westerkamp. Graphics by: Bas Spierings
I found out about Walk Proud from our graphics guy, Bas Spierings… you know the guy who has a tiny credit “Graphics by: Bas Spierings” under almost every single lead photo on this website? The beauty of the internet is that a guy living in Drunen, The Netherlands can school me on a band out of Southern California that formed in 1985! Bas has told me to check these guys out for a quite some time and I was floored when I first heard their “R.I.P.” album that came out in 1990. How were these guys not mega-popular on a hardcore/punk level was one of my first thoughts that came to mind after hearing it. Like many bands life gets in the way of progress and the members went their own ways but a few years back things started coming back together with reunion shows and now we are on the doorstep of some brand new Walk Proud material which is slated to come out very soon. After the usual tracking the band down type of thing (Facebook) we were able to get the band members to answer these hard pressing questions to the answers YOU the reader GOTTA KNOW! We want to thank the members of Walk Proud for taking the time out to do this and we also salute them for keeping it real all these years later. Read on for this December 2014 interview with Norwalk, CA’s Walk Proud. Check out a new track titled “Damage” by clicking on the cover art for their new album “Too Much Is Never Enough” below.
IE: What's up guys? For those who may not know Walk Proud yet, can you give us the short version on the band's history?
Jim: Walk Proud was born in 1985, rehearsing nearly every day in Norwalk, CA. It was Carlos “Lalo” Roo-vocals/Carlos Ortega-bass/Jim Moore-drums/Matt Rowan-guitar.
Starting out, we were influenced by early 80’s punk and thrash: NOTA, Negative Approach, Agnostic Front, Ill Repute, RKL, DRI, MDC, Descendents, Bad Religion, 7Seconds, Unity…
Karl Izumi joined Walk Proud as the 5th member at the end of 1990. Then the "One More Time EP 7" was recorded with him as an additional lead guitarist. In mid-2013, Steve Westerkamp, a longtime friend who had played along with members of Walk Proud in other side project bands, joined us replacing Matt Rowan.
IE: Can you fill in some of the blanks for the time period between 1990 and 2013?
Jim: After the release of the “One More Time” EP, we played around locally but weren't able to get a tour planned out. Matt then got married and moved to Seattle. Lalo got married and had 4 daughters. Carlos, Karl and Jim continued with our friend, Tio on guitar. We wrote new songs that were much more melodic so we searched for a “Bad Religion” style vocalist to no avail. Karl soon moved to Chicago for work. Carlos and Jim gigged around with a new singer, Osh, playing WP songs but it was too different at that point. We then changed the name of the band to Dooryard and recorded 7 or 8 songs.
When Jim and Matt moved back to LA in 2002, we started playing more and more reunion shows and wrote 2 new songs, “Together” and “Pride” and recorded a demo that was added to a 4-band split CD released called “Furious World” on Basement Records. Soon after that, we put together a new band called Everything Red that lasted a few years. Karl, Carlos, Jim (on guitar), Mikey (drummer from Mind Driver) and various female vocalists. Walk Proud, Mind Driver and Spider played reunion shows throughout that period. Out of all the side projects, Walk Proud was the band that was foremost on our minds. We started playing more and more. In the last few years, we knew it was time to write a whole new set of songs and represent Walk Proud, as it deserved. Steve stepped in to replace Matt as a permanent member and contributed 3 new songs. So, in a sense, this new CD took more than 15 years to make.
Click image above to listen to "Damage" by WALK PROUD
IE: What’s up with the new album you are working on? What’s it called and are you releasing it yourselves?
Lalo: We spent a year making demos and playing the songs live. The 13 song album is called: “Too Much Is Never Enough” due for release in the Spring of 2015 on Know Records. It will be available on vinyl, CD, and for download.
IE: When you guys started writing the new songs for this album was there a conscious effort to write songs in the same style as what you guys did in the 1980's or did you put some new twists in? What changes if any to the overall sound or style would you say there are?
Karl: All the stuff we did in the past was very optimistic and positive hardcore, and this new album talks more about negative things in life too. There’s a little more darkness to the lyrics and sound. Not intentionally, it just came out that way. ‘Ya know, we all talk about positive, positive hardcore, positive attitude. But then, after you live life for a while, you tend to “get it” already and there’s twists and turns and demons in your life that you have to overcome and that’s what we think is included in the writing of these songs. We talk about the negative obstacles in life that we come across.
Carlos: Which happens when you get older.
Karl: Also Steve, our newest member, grew up together with me listening to old school LA Punk. His influences on the song writing has brought our sound to a wider spectrum as well.
Lalo: My song writing deals with my own issues.
Jim: I was 14 when I joined Walk Proud in 1985. I was 17 when we released the “Be Yourself” EP. We are in our 40’s now, so our perspective and experiences have put on some mileage. The lyrics I come up with nowadays are more therapeutic and not as optimistic and hopeful as I was then.
IE: If people go and check out your old show flyers it is obvious you guys played with some of the bigger named bands of the 1980s. I think Walk Proud's stuff is really good and you guys probably should have made a bigger impact than you did. In your opinion what were some of the things that you think hindered Walk Proud from getting more popular?
Jim: After “One More Time” was released, Matt got married, moved to Seattle. Lalo was working hard to raise his 4 daughters. Karl moved to Chicago. Carlos and I continued on with a new guitarist and singer without Lalo, it wasn’t Walk Proud anymore.
IE: One of the old flyers had you playing over the Offspring. We're you guys friends with them and what were some of the other bands that Walk Proud played with back then?
Lalo: We were on Nemesis with the Offspring. They booked us together, along with Visual Discrimination often. We have played shows with Ill Repute, Youth of Today, Insted, Agnostic Front, MDC, Nip Drivers, Face to Face, Greenday, Agent Orange and many more.
IE: Is it true or not true that Walk Proud played a show with Agnostic Front and kicked Nazis out of the gig? If so, can you give us the back story? Where was this show and when?
Lalo: It was at Chuck Landis’ Country Club in Reseda, CA. October, 1990.
Karl: Nazi skinheads showed up at the show in a large sum of numbers and they started picking on the kids. Big Frank, from Nemesis/promoter, came up on stage and grabbed the security and stopped the harassment on stage and he went down there and he started a fight with them and all the kids jumped in and rushed them out the door. It ended in the parking lot as they ran off.
Jim: Watch the video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1TWCBFsT5I
IE: Was there a lot of violence at your shows back in the 80s? Who were the main culprits with starting trouble usually?
Lalo: Drunk punks.
Karl: At that time period, there were many gangs forming. The punk gang scene was thriving and sometimes the violence was unavoidable.
IE: How far did Walk Proud go on any tours you played back in the day?
Jim: We did a few small trips but no major tours.
Carlos: We had no management for the band to move us to the next level.
IE: Can you break down for us what was the best Walk Proud show ever in your opinion? Where was it, who played, what made it the best show?
Carlos: 2011 with Ill Repute, Agent Orange and Beat to Death. Great night, great set, packed crowd.
Jim: And all the bands sounded awesome.
Lalo: We brought our A game on that night!
IE: The band Stick Together recently used some of Walk Proud's old artwork from your “One More Time” record. This is often referred to as a "rip" where a younger band will just change logos around in a way to pay homage to a band they look up to. This caused some confusion apparently when you guys initially saw this. What happened in regards to this?
Karl: A friend of ours came across it and shared a photo of it. At first, we were surprised. Then, we kinda felt ripped off. But then we realized, you know what? That’s kind of an honor and not a big deal. Cool.
IE: Is there anything in the works about releasing all of your old stuff in a discography format considering all of the old stuff is out of print and for the most part hard to find outside of some links from websites on the internet?
Jim: We’ll discuss a WP Anthology after our new release settles in for a while. It’s a possibility for sure.
IE: Once the new album comes out can people expect Walk Proud to play out with a bunch of shows or will it continue to be more local weekend stuff around the So-Cal area?
Karl: We definitely want to play as far out as possible. If anybody wants us to come down to your city, contact us:
Click image above to listen to the "R.I.P." album by WALK PROUD
IE: What are some of the differences you see within the hardcore scene today as compared to when Walk Proud started in 1985? Are things more the same or maybe light years apart from what you remember? What are the pros and cons of then and now?
Carlos: For bands, shows are better organized today with a wide variety of new venues to play.
Karl: It’s easier for bands now to go out on tour and quickly get their music out there, using the internet, with or without the support of a label. Punk rock is more commercialized now than it ever was. Back then, it was hard to find a real punk shirt. Now you see kids from LA/OC sporting Black Flag, FEAR t-shirts they bought from the mall. The coolest thing is… there’s a whole new generation of kids getting into the old-school hardcore punk scene now.
Carlos: Back in the 80’s, everybody used to stay to the end of the whole show. But now, they see their favorite band and take off.
IE: Do all of you have families and kids now and what line of work are the members of Walk Proud in?
Carlos: I’m a professional musician. J/K, I have a 19 year old son, Anthony.
Jim: I work in the paint industry. 2 kids, 1 grand kid.
Lalo: I work at Pepsi. 20 years. 4 daughters. Steve and Karl work in the CNC machinery industry. Steve is a technician, Karl is a sales engineer. Steve has 2 kids and 2 grandkids. Karl has no offspring.
IE: Very cool guys, thanks for taking the time to do this and good luck with the new album “Too Much Is Never Enough” on Know Records.
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