I apologize for not posting for a couple of weeks. I have been ultra busy trying to get shit together with this whole finding someone new to do vocals for
Killing Years thing, working on lyrics and such so we can get Kevin Byers (ex-
Morning Again,
Waking Kills the Dream) into the studio to do all of the vocal tracks for the new three song demo, working, and starting a company with our bassist Steve. I think I may take a break for a while on posting music, unless I come across something I just absolutely have to get onto the blog. Meanwhile, I plan to post some scans of record/CD artwork/layouts and scans of
The Crucial Times zine from the 90s.
The Crucial Times was a Christian hardcore zine written by my dude Chris who recently hooked me up with some super rad Christian hardcore vinyls, CDs, and cassettes; as well as tons of issues of
The Crucial Times. Check out all the things Chris does on his
website. Super creative dude.
So, I guess blogs replaced zines? When I was reading through these issues of the zine and going through these old Christian hardcore vinyls, CDs, and cassettes; it did some things to me.
1. It made me miss zines.
2. It made me miss old hardcore record artwork/layouts.
and
3. It sent me down memory lane the furthest I have ever been.
Here are some key things people in our hardcore scene today can do to really bring back the feeling of true hardcore:
1. Book bands that aren't just huge, mainstream hardcore bands.
2. Throw your shows in basements, rooms in houses, and other makeshift venues. My favorite show I have been to was a 7 Angels 7 Plagues show that was in a living room when I was in high school.
3. Keep pushing the DIY ethic. Make, print, and distribute your band's music yourselves! It is always so much more personable and you get a sense of the heart that band is putting into their music.
4. Book shows with local bands, with the "main act" being just an out of town band, not necessarily a big touring band.
5. Keep pushing paper fliers for shows! I know the internet is the easiest/quickest way to send information (especially hardcore shows), but paper fliers hit those kids that maybe don't follow the main crowd in your local scene. Plus, people like me have collected those fliers forever! We want to keep doing it.
and
6. No more typical band pictures. Nothing better than getting a record and checking out all of the artworks inside and NOT seeing some corny promo picture of the band, or some typical live shot of the band.
Zao did this well on some of their stuff. Pretty awesome.
Anyway...soon I'll post some cool scans of stuff.
Again, I appreciate anything people donate to this blog. People that send me links, music, physical records, zines, etc., you are loved!