Michael Kotch of Eve’s Plum (May 10, 1996)

TT the Bear’s Place
Cambridge, MA
May 10, 1996

So how was tonight’s set for everyone?
I had a lot of fun. I think I lost about ten pounds; it was hot up there. I like this place a lot. I don’t know what it sounds like out there. I mean, it never sounds that great when I see bands down here, but I like the vibe of the place a lot.

So what’s going on with the second guitarist? I’ve seen about two different second guitarists the page two times?
We had first, Mike Gent, who plays with the Figgs. Then his band went on tour, so he couldn’t do it anymore. When we were out on the west coast, we had another friends, Johnny play with us. He lives out there. Our friend Julian has been playing with us for a while now. So, basically, we kind of rotate it, keep it interesting. The second guitarist is just to make it a little fuller sounding.

Karl Buechner of Earth Crisis / The Path of Resistance (July 20, 1996)

Capital Ballroom

Washington, DC
Following Earth Crisis / Snapcase / Refused / Damnnation, A.D. show

Greg: So, Earth Crisis is on tour now. How is that tour coming along?

Karl: We’re doing a three-week tour of the east coast, from Portland, Maine all the way down to Miami, Florida and back. We’re on the eighth day, I believe, and every show has been pretty much phenomenal. We’ve played places where we, in the past, didn’t have as good of a turnout, and things were awesome as far as kids going off and singing along and being into the music and appreciative of our band. So this is a great tour.

The Skavengers (April 18, 1996)

The SkavengersThe Middle East

Boston, MA
April 18, 1996 (following performance opening for The Skatelites)

Greg: Who are you, and what do you do in the band?
Jon: Jon, I’m the lead singer.
Lana: I’m Lana. Play sax and sing.
Zack: I’m Zack, keyboards.
Jon: Craig plays guitar, there’s Scott, he’s our drummer, Steven, who’s right now our bass player, Laura plays trombone also, Ed plays trumpet, Philip is on horns.
Zack: Horns?
Jon: I mean, tenor sax. I’m sorry.

Jacob Bannon of Converge (December 1996)

Converge consist of five people: Damon Bellorado, Kurt Ballou, Jacob Bannon, Aaron Dalbec, and Jeffrey Feinburg. They’ve existed as a band since about 1990. Their present catalogue includes the Halo in a Haystack full-length, two seven-inches (Unloved and Weeded Out and Petitioning the Empty Sky), and roughly three CD’s which consist of material from the aforementioned releases and then some. They are currently working on their next full-length, tentatively titled When Forever Comes Crashing, which is likely to be released some five or six months from now. There are few bands who convey as much emotion through their music as Converge. And there are few people who write like Jake Bannon. Reading his lyrics, I knew that there was much that he has to offer. His gift to articulate both thought and feeling is refreshing. This interview was a thoroughly enjoyable thing to do.

Greg: Petitioning the Empty Sky feels much more aggressive and a little darker than previous records, like Halo in a Haystack.

Jake: I think a lot of that has more or less to do with natural progression. As far as specific topics, they’re prominent in both records. There’s not really a dominant theme per se that would give it a darker feeling. I just think, probably we had a lot more to get off our chest per se in a negative fashion, things that weren’t exactly the happiest moments. And the greatest times of our lives certainly didn’t happen during that time when we were writing the record. So I think a lot of that came out in the writing in general.

Marisol Escobar (April 2, 2001)

Greg: How are you feeling?

Marisol: I’m alright. I went out and was back, and maybe it was too late, last night.

Greg: I tried at about 10pm but didn’t want to keep trying because I thought you had gone to bed and didn’t want to disrupt your sleep.

Marisol: Oh no, I stay up all night. I just went to the restaurant, (and returned) at 10:30 or so.

Greg: What restaurant?

Marisol: It’s a Japanese restaurant. I like Japanese food.

Greg: And you also have a Japanese dog.

Marisol: I like Japan in general.

Ray Cappo of Shelter / Youth of Today (May 2, 1996)

Greg: Mantra seems to take a bit of a different approach to spreading Krishna philosophy than other Shelter records, as in it seems to be speaking more to non-religious people as well as the more religiously-oriented. Was that a premeditated part of writing the record?

Ray: I didn’t have that same observation, but I usually don’t go into records like that. What I do is I have a notebook. And even when I’m not writing a record I usually keep a notebook, and then suppose I see something go down, or I get some realization, I say “that’d be a good idea for a song.” To think, “empathy,” that’s a great idea for a song, or “in defense of reality,” that’s a great idea for a song. Usually I come up with a title first, and then I’ll write tons of poetry, sometimes rhyming or non-rhyming, or whatever. Just write it all down on maybe three pages of paper, maybe some back to it a week later and say “yeah, what else should I write about that?” And then, if I find a guitar riff that sounds like it should fit into that, then I create it into a song. But it’s nothing like “how can I spread this message?” I’m not that smart (laughs). It’s sort of like my mind, over a year, poured out onto CD.