One thing I have always enjoyed about the music scene in Rochester is how eclectic all of the artists are. If you hit the music scene here for a week, on any given night you are likely to see a wide range of artists performing throughout our club circuit. There's something for everyone here- punk, hardcore, ska, emo, metal, and hip-hop has even become more prevalent in the area over the last 15 years or so. I can remember back to 2004 when I was working and hanging out in Henrietta a lot. I was living downtown, so I would spend half my time in the city and the other half out in or around Henrietta. A friend of mine at the time suggested that I check out the rapper AJ CURRY . I told him I had no idea who he was talking about. He said he realized that, but judging by my taste in rap that I should check him out sometime. Over the next few years, I realized he was right. Having built his name within the local scene over the last few years, AJ Curry is now ready to take his solo game to the next level. I was able to check out the tracks that AJ is working on for his debut album (due out soon on the up and coming local label Hen Roc Records ) a few weeks ago and the first words that came to mind were "instant classic" and "summer bangers." Kevin Mahoney from Hit the Lights is handling the production on this record and while it is one of his first hip-hop ventures, it definitely does not sound like that by any means. Having two people with somewhat different influences working on this album has only helped in my opinion. This weekend, AJ is going to be debuting some of these songs at Water Street Music Hall along with BEDROC, DOM BROWN, and many others ! Below are a few previously released videos.
When I was really into hardcore in the late 90s and early 2000s, there were very few people in this area that were consistently bringing touring hardcore bands to our city. I had done a bunch of smaller hardcore and punk shows at Vertex and in my old smelly basement, but I wanted Rochester to start having a lot of the same shows that Buffalo and Syracuse had. By 2001, it was on and I was booking a lot of tours here. I was also losing a lot of money. Aside from the whole always being broke thing, it didn't really bother me. I was after all the one who put myself in this position. Plus, I was booking all of my favorite bands at the time. Occasionally, I would do a show for a band like Thursday or Coheed and Cambria, but pretty much every "big" hardcore show I booked I lost $100 or more on. I once lost $800 on a fest I booked here, another time there was $500 on some random touring bands. One of my favorites though was the night I lost $300 on an American Nightmare show. I had gotten them on a show at the Bug Jar a year and a half ago when they were still a fairly new band. By 2001, the word was out and American Nightmare was a pretty big band for hardcore standards. Yet, for some reason, bands like this never really took off here. I was always thinking my city would come around and these shows would draw as much as Buffalo or Syracuse and they never really did. Unless it was Bane. Anyway, I had already seen American Nightmare plenty of times in cities like Wilkes-Barre, Syracuse, Gainesville, and Buffalo. The thing about "hype" bands and bigger hardcore bands is that I never really cared about any of that. Not only that, but at the time I wasn't all that into Ten Yard Fight so seeing "ex members of Ten Yard Fight" in their name never really did much for me. There is a certain blend of hardcore I have primarily stuck to and usually I will just seek bands out as I see fit. American Nightmare was a little bit different musically than what I was listening to, because of how fast their drumming was, but more importantly because of the vocals. While you couldn't always hear everything live in those first few dozen shows, the vocals that Wes was putting on those first few records weren't like much I had heard prior to that. But more importantly, the lyrics were completely different than anything that was coming out at the time. I think that is why this band is so influential and people get so excited about them still. I know that I was dealing with a lot of personal issues back then, especially in 2000 and 2001. Having the first two American Nightmare EPs to listen to back then definitely made things a lot easier for me. I know that sounds cheesy and it probably is, but hardcore definitely carried me through some of my toughest times and American Nightmare was one of those bands. I was in a lucky position to pretty much see them from the beginning to the end, as well. The show I did here in 2002 itself was a lot of fun. Of the 125 or so people that were in attendance, I would say 75 or more were from out of town or they were RIT students. Crazy to think about it in retrospect, but most of the attendees of my shows back then were not from here. I would definitely say that out of all the shows I put on this had the best lineup for my tastes. There were a lot of shows that other people have said were this and that, but I like this lineup the best. I loved Miles Between Us and even helped them put out their first EP. I think they are still one of the best bands to come out of Canada too, for what that's worth. Bad Business were definitely one of my favorite local bands and easily my favorite of this era. Over the next couple years, they were able to make their mark and even did a couple tours. That 7" is good shit, too and still gets some spins on my turntable. Striking Distance were just a solid hardcore punk band. I loved seeing them live, Dave Byrd was also fun to watch. I still have the Striking Distance tour shirt from this show. Thanks to my main man Chris Rivera for holding it for me while I traveled cross country in 2006. I feel like Death Threat in 2002 and 03 was what Wisdom in Chains have been for the last few years; an extremely solid hardcore band that you could always count on to come play a good hardcore show. Their first two LPs are definitely two of my favorite records to come out in the early 2000s. Death Threat had canceled on the Thursday/Carry On/ETID/No Warning/Hopecon show I put on a few months prior to this, so I was stoked to finally have them on one of my shows. I think they actually played after AN though and I knew I had already lost $300 so I was kind of bumming by then. I even broke down in tears while explaining the situation to a friend of mine that night. Again, I always had extremely high hopes for Rochester and I was always kind of let down on nights like this. I swear when I was looking out off the stage it looked like there was enough people there for me to at least come close to breaking even. I guess I am not that great at estimating crowds. Still though, that American Nightmare set was extremely fun and I don't know how many more of their shows I enjoyed that much after that night. I am still glad that I got to take part in not only this show, but all of the other hundreds shows I was involved in during that era. A lot of people talk bad of bands doing reunions and I personally usually skip them. I even sold the tickets I had to BOTH American Nightmare reunions in December. I have made it a point to intentionally skip watching all videos from the shows. Now having watched this trailer, it does bum me out and I think when they play again, I will try to go see them live.
I missed the Black N Blue Bowl this year. There's no getting around it now I guess. I might miss This Is Hardcore too, although I am going to try to my best to get down there for a day or two. Either way, I will always remember the two times I have seen Gorilla Biscuits live. This is from BNB last year, you might even see a busted dive by yours truly in here....
A lot of bands have come and gone in hardcore and it is really hard to have any kind of staying power, especially in this day and age. One thing I have noticed is that while anyone can play hardcore, few people can play it well. That may sound picky and snobby, but with all of the bullshit that is flooding the internet these days, I would like to think I am free to be as picky as I want. For starters, as I said before this music is really easy and anyone can play it. That doesn't mean you have to practice it for a day and then go out and tour. While I do still have a great big soft spot in my heart for loud, sloppy hardcore, I prefer watching bands that are a little bit tighter at this point. I guess good songwriting and stage presence is what sets bands apart for me these days. While I wasn't a huge fan of Fire and Ice's vocals on their first demo, they have grown on me more and more as I listen to the "COLLECTIONS" LP and now this NOT OF THIS EARTH LP. The guitar sound of this band is something I was fond of immediately when I heard them. I definitely feel the late 80s NYHC vibe continuing on with this release and there's nothing wrong with that. I really like the riffs on this record, they keep things interesting while playing a style of music that isn't always exciting. There's even a Bill and Ted's esque (though I am sure it wasn't meant that way) guitar interlude on here. I've always been somewhat reminded of Leeway (with some Madball in the hard parts) in this band's sound and AJ Novello even co-produced this record with Dean Baltulonis! What sets this band apart to me are the guitars and the vocals, which as I said I have grown to enjoy with this band. Both at times almost have a late 80s rock feel to them (a la Leeway again). There's also even a couple hints of melody on this record, which isn't a bad thing by any means. These guys also get extra points for saying "sock it to me" at the beginning of a breakdown. I have missed this band the couple times they played this area, but after hearing this LP I definitely intend to see them live soon.
I don't know if it's just me getting older or whatever, but it seems like a lot of hardcore bands have become stale and overproduced in recent years. I feel like a lot of bands think that hardcore is just about breakdowns and creating hype for yourself on the internet. Fewer and fewer bands are taking to the old school method of recording a demo, hitting the road, and meeting tons of people on the way. In my opinion 2004-08 saw a very small amount of bands take to this approach. I can't blame people I guess, it is probably far easier and productive to just hype your band up on various social networking sites, rather than risk losing money paying for overpriced gasoline to fill your van along the way. Luckily, there are still some risk takers out there carrying the torch for hardcore kids both new and old. One of those bands is Wisconsin's Expire. I first caught them here in the Winter of 2009 in Rochester with a bunch of mostly forgettable local bands. The one thing I can say after all these years is that when I hear of a good band doing a DIY tour that is solid hardcore, I will check them out. I remember being somewhat impressed by Expire that night and then they topped it off with covers of Leeway and Integrity. Being a somewhat well known band now, I doubt they really have to grab anyone's attention with covers anymore, though I wouldn't mind hearing that Rise and Fall intro again! Expire's debut full length "PENDULUM SWINGS" picks back up right where their last two EPs left off. I like many apects of this band and record, including the vocals which aren't too overbearing but still don't really sound like a lot of bands either. The guitars are what make this record for me though, every mosh part makes me want to break something. There's a lot of good mosh on this record and while they're not breaking any ground in the music department, the songs are all tight and well written- a quality that is sorely lacking in most current hardcore bands. In one of the better tours (in my opinion) in years, COLD WORLD, BACKTRACK, DEAD END PATH, and EXPIRE are currently criss-crossing the United States. They will be playing in Buffalo at the end of the US dates on June 12 and I plan to be there.
