After a few years of doing the web version of Bystander I began interviewing more local bands to make up for the loss of scenester online. End of a Year was only a few months old, but was quickly gaining recognition by playing a style of music drastically different from thier Albany peers. Their singer Patrick irked many, but gained almost cult like admiration for his antagonistic persona and drew attention to the band.
I know a few were surprised that I gave Pat a chance to use my site as a sounding board, but with the release of their Boom Box demo I didn't think any other local band was peaking as much interest locally as EOAY. This interview was done over e-mail in the summer of 2003.
How long has End of a Year been around you guys seemed to have picked up shows rather quickly?
We existed as Mike, Eric and myself playing DC hardcore on the Embrace side of the fence for about a month or so. Then Hans and Dave came on, at which point we fell over to the Rites of Spring side of things and we have been like that for, I don't know, two months.
As far as picking up shows quickly, yes we have. It's actually important to what we're doing, I think a lot of people were sort of taken aback by how quick we started playing out, but what I'd like to explain to them is that most parents don't adopt 16 year olds. They find some value in rearing a child from birth, and that's sort of how it is with EOAY. I think bands that practice to a mirror for a year so that they can be "super-tight" are bullshit. We are trying to be honest with this band and part of that is the messy stuff too. Have you ever kissed someone and bumped heads? I sort of like that. I think mistakes can make things better.
You seem to talk about the topic of sexuality a lot, not just in your lyrics but in person. Care to explain your view on sex and the scene?
Sex is the only part of my life that's confusing. Everything else seems pretty straightforward; don't steal, don't murder things, etc. Sex is tough sometimes, it can put you in situations that you didn't plan on, and that can be good or bad. Hard to explain I guess. I can get all deep on it here, but any girls I've been with will give you the truth, I listened to WAAAY too much 108 during my formative years.
As far as sex and the scene, we are the worlds worst perverts. The myth of hardcore has us smashing walls and redefining boundaries, but I feel like we are just tightening the walls around us with this. We have a billion bands flinging around the word "love", but none actually addressing what our lives our made of- equal parts (if we're lucky) of lust and love. We are often times put in group situations, like a show, with attractive people who hold the same interests.... and we blow it. We'd rather do it from a distance, from our computers or whatever. I'm not ragging on meeting people in different ways, like the computer or prison pen pals, but I do find it upsetting that we are so frozen when it's "go time". We admire from afar but can't seem to say anything.... and we stigmatize any sexuality we do see. For example, making out at a show is considered SO LOW, but why? It's a place where I feel comfortable, so why wouldn't I act normally at a show.
Part of my normal dialogue includes body contact or kissing. I'm talking about with people I'm with by the way, not strangers or bouncers or shit like that. I'd like to make this something worth talking about in our culture, but I'm not talking about a shock value sexuality like 18 Visions or the Locust. I just want to explain to people it's ok. Decide for YOURSELF what makes you comfortable sexually, but never base it on fear of what people will think.
You guys have a what seems to be a huge DC influence, did you guys start the band that way, with that in mind?
We just really wanted to do something that made us feel the way Embrace did, so maybe not coincidently, we started playing music like that. But it's been important to us that we never "push" for ANY sound.
Several members of the band are in other projects that play a lot and are serious, does this get in the way of this project?
Not yet, but it'll probably result in a missed show or two. It was part of the deal going into it, so we know what to expect. Everyone aside from myself is in one or more bands, I think it's understood that we wish the best for all our extended family. If The Switched On get a national tour, there won't be any complaining from our end. I've always been a believer in the idea that you take people with you. If your band is doing well, you do your best to make your friends band join you.
What is the biggest problem with the hardcore and punk scene in Albany right now, and what do you think can change that?
I spend a good portion of my time in Brooklyn so I get to see Albany from an outsiders point of view. The single biggest problem Albany has is not appreciating what is going on here. NYC is dead for this kind of music. I mean, literally, one show every two months is the best I can hope for. When I come to Albany there is at least a show a week it seems. I find myself going to shows in Albany I never would have when I lived there fulltime, just because IT'S A SHOW!!! I miss them. Albany should sometimes remind it's self that most of the world doesn't have it like this... I think that would be the best thing for us.
You have actually been in the scene for a considerable amount of time, how does Albany stand in comparison to the “days of the Q”? is the scene better or worse?
Better, but It's a tough call. You take the good with the bad. When I was 16 there was such a line in the sand between One King Down fans and Monster X fans. That was lame. I'm sure it still happens on some level, but for the most part I feel like Albany can see many of the same kids at diverse shows. Or at least, if there is a division, it's based on musical preferences instead of feeling unwelcome someplace. That being said, I really liked the QE2. In the end it was just another venue, but it really was a lot more fun than Valentines in many ways.
With you living in Brooklyn now, how often do you travel to play shows and practice? How does that impact your own input in writing songs?
I travel once a week to practice. I am now destitute but it's worth it for me. The songs are always spontaneous, we may hammer something down, but most often the ideas that come out of the bands fingers at that moment are the way the songs will be played live, recorded, etc. Generally, the guys will begin jamming and I'll run through a few songs worth of lyrics that I've written, and when one fits the mood of the song, we roll with it.
Can you explain your experience of being a video extra for a pop sensation?
Avril and I are tight. No, actually, I never got to meet her. I met all the dudes in her band and they were cool. I kept trying to vie for position to speak to her so I could ask her to dinner, but it was not meant to be. Perhaps some other time. The experience itself was fun as hell. There is a weird ring of "youth market" extras that get tossed around NYC and, because of the look that goes along with it, many are hardcore kids. So when the assistant director says "OK people, we are on the verge of near mosh" as a direction for the extra's, he doesn't know what he's getting into. I gotta say, one of the funniest moments of my life was being in a crowd of kids supposedly singing along to Avril's song while she lip syncs on stage and none of us knowing the song so "I'm gonna fuckin rape you!" or "you're dead, you whore!" acted as replacement lyrics for a lot of the kids that didn't know the lyrics. Also, "going nuts" for Avril was awesome. Us biting each other and doing YOT jumps in that crowd was a lot of fun. Everyone- be an extra.
Is Straight Edge still relevant, do you see it as a life style or a movement?
Before I start on this, let me make it clear I only speak for myself. End Of A Year has five different lifestyles between the five of us and I don't want to misrepresent anyone.
Straightedge is very relevant, both for a 16 year old just discovering that he may want to live this way and for me, at 23. As far as a lifestyle vs. a movement... well, I don't know. Something can be both I suppose. The problem with movements isn’t that people "expect" something from them. They want the world to change it's axis or something. So anyone looking for straightedge to overturn governments might be in for a disappointment, but anyone looking for a way to save their own life might've just found their ticket.
I know it sounds dramatic "save your life," but I'm not talking about dying of a heroin overdose or any shit like that, I'm talking about saving yourself from boredom. From being a miserable state worker that hates their life but feel's powerless to change. Oh man, you just stepped in some shit, cause I'm about to get all deep, straightedge is 'drug free' for a lot of people, and that's it, but for me, it's every positive thing I do in my life. It's 'me', if that means anything. And it's this way for a lot of people, we'd be like this with or without the word 'straightedge'.
The problem this lifestyle has is that, like anything else, people get lost in the word. They want to be a 'rocker' so they get a belt, they want to be 'edge' so they get the tattoos or whatever.... it's sad for those of us who just meet the requirements of the word by nature. It's the difference between working for the word vs. the word working for you. I don't really have the words anymore. Trying to describe being Straight Edge(in the way I am) to someone is like them trying to describe a acid trip to me: we can get the idea, but we'll never really understand.
