интервью из зина wake up and live.
Could you introduce the band?
I object is barb -vocals, ryan -bass, biff - guitar, steve -drums
What’s your opinion on today’s hardcore/punk scene? Has hc & punk become too safe and predictable?
Barb: I think that the hardcore/punk scene is on the rise because touring has become more of an accessible form of communication in the US, for bands to share ideas. People who say that it is not a threat aren’t seeing the right kinds of bands, those who speak their opinion regardless of who is around.
Steve: Yeah I agree that the community of people/bands in the diy scene is as strong today as it has ever been and just to add to what barb said about the safeness of the punk scene, going to see some band in a 1,000 person club is a lot different than seeing a bunch of bands play in some dirty basement in EVERY aspect as far as what the bands have to say, the interaction with the people at the show, and the politics involved with it.
Do you think that hc/punk can make a change on today’s society?
On a more personal level, how did/does hc/punk influence your life?
S: I don’t know about impacting mainstream society but just building a community of people outside of the mainstream everyday bullshit that is our world culture is what is important to me, I mean being able to tour and playing shows every night in a different town makes me feel like I’ve escaped a lot of the restraints put on me by society. Just keeping everything within the scene as much as possible I think can have the greatest influence on maybe not necessarily changing society but making society a better place for us.
B: To me I feel like there is to a certain extent a predetermined goal I am supposed to have in my life about being successful. And just being in this band has really helped me be successful in my own eyes and showed the people around me who think I am unsuccessful that I am truly happy with what I choose on an everyday level. Punk to me is creating our own means. And not using the certain aspects of society that we oppose.
DIY, independent,… were good words to describe the hc/punk scene. But it seems that these values disappear bit by bit especially with more & more labels working like the mainstream music industry. “DIY or die” or do you think it’s a good thing to have some hardcore bands exposed to a larger audience ?
B: I am really glad you brought this up because this is something that has been a focus of conversation with us recently. We are a DIY band. We play DIY shows. We support DIY bands. We attend all ages DIY shows. Political bands that play to more mainstream audiences to convert people is a joke to me. If you oppose war you don’t become a solider to go to war and tell other soldiers that war is wrong. You make sure that every aspect of your life opposes it ALL THE TIME. There is still a strong DIY ethic in the scene. But bands need to start to talk more... blasting through a set isn’t the point to me.
Is I Object a sxe band? Do you consider straightedge a political statement?
s: i object is a sxe band and while we don't really have many songs that actually sing about sxe i think it is still an important statement to make especially in the punk scene where a lot of people that are either involved in the scene or even the more “hardcore” kids that aren’t involved in the diy punk/hardcore scene make the assumption that every punk is a drunk punk. What I like about our band is that we don’t ram it down people’s throats, it’s not that we don’t care its just that it’s cool with us either way, so it’s the little things like just “x-ing” up when we play that is an important statement for me.
B: also it really breaks down a lot of assumptions about being a straightedge band, like every straightedge band is militant to the point of beating kids up for smoking cigarettes.
Has our scene lost its political edge?
B: I still think a lot of bands have a strong message. I think people need to realize that a political edge isn’t just about government politics. It can involve scene politics or just caring about anything at all. We have the opportunity to speak out over the mic or through zines and people just don’t utilize that enough. It is such an important aspect of our band to talk about our songs. I just hope we play and see other bands who do the same.
Some of you are running a great diy hc/punk label called Punks Before Profits, could you tell us more about it? When did it start? Why? Releases? …
B: PBP records started in 1999. Ryan started it to document bands from our area who might break up and the memories would be lost. Since then we branched out to tons of bands from the US and beyond. I co-ran the label with ryan for 4 Ѕ years. Recently I decided to not be part of the project anymore but he is still going strong and has a lot planned. Check out
www.punksbeforeprofits.net for releases and news.
Bush has been recently re-elected, particularly thanks to religious fundamentalists who are now asking him to forbid abortion and take other retrograde measures. On the other hand, he’s manipulating the information (about the war in Iraq,…) with tv channels like Fox News who are totally devoted to him. That’s pretty scary. How do you think things will turn out with Bush in power for another 4 years?
B: before bush we re-elected I was thinking to myself, ‘there is no way he will get re-elected’ b/c all sorts of truths were coming out about his lies etc. And to be honest I was very surprised it happened the way it did. I think some pretty drastic measures will be at the hand of bush and the abortion issue is one that is very important to me. I just want everyone who reads this to know that not all Americans are stupid; most, but not all, about bush and the current government and what they are trying to do.
One of you is female, how do you see the place of girls in the hardcore scene that is so male-dominated?
B: I am a very vocal female. This makes some people uncomfortable. And for that I am glad because one conversation at a time I am breaking down the stereotype of females in hardcore as wallflowers. We just played international women’s day fest in boston and every female on stage and in attendance who watched bands or lead workshops made me proud to see there is progress in our role in the scene. So all we can do is be vocal about it, be involved in making females more welcome, and be an active female ourselves.
You’ve lots of lyrics about social & political issues. Could you tell us a little bit more about what your lyrics are dealing with? Are they less, equally or more important than the music?
B: to me the lyrics are more important to a certain extent but the music brings us together as a group of people who are in need of an outlet for frustration. Our lyrics deal with personal experiences, women’s issues, semi- political stand points, and anything we need to vent about. We explain songs while we play. We share ideas and listen to opposing ones. If someone cuts you down for being vocal then that just goes to show they are insecure.
From what I saw on your pictures, you like shorts. What are your favourite ones, flashy Hawaiian shorts?
S: Well that’s pretty much Biff’s thing, while barb and ryan also like the shorts, biff is exclusively all about the short shorts. To the point where on tour he brings one shirt and, I’m not lying, 7 pairs of short shorts, so it doesn’t really matter what the design is as long as they are short, although he does have a nice pair of bicycle like orange discharge shorts.
You’re planning to tour Europe at the end of the year. What are your expectations? Have you already been in Europe?
S: I guess the tour to Europe in actually going to be in early spring of ’06. None of us have been to Europe as for me I really don’t know what to expect. I think we are just really looking forward to playing as many shows possible in as many different places and meeting tons of kids. I think I might personally do a lot of apologizing for the actions of Bush and the good ‘ol USA.
What's planned next for I Object?
B: we have a new 7” coming out on still holding on records out of Belgium. We just released a first two years cd out on PBP records, unholy resurrection records (steve’s label), and town clock records. We have touring planned for May, June, August, and September of this year which includes Mexico, Canada, and the USA. We are going to keep busy and work towards more foreign touring in the future.
Last words…
B: Thanks for the interview. It’s just one more way to share ideas. We love mail, too. 537 caroline st Rochester, ny 14620
rockwellrenaissance@hotmail.com