I recently conducted an Orlando Hardcore exclusive interview with Josh of Demand Records/CFL Hardcore infamy via the world wide web. Though he currently resides in the Tampa Bay area, Josh is active in the Orlando hardcore world as well. The man has accomplished more in a few decades than you probably will in your entire lifetime. The following contains content dealing with the war in Iraq, Nirvana, Boston Celtics basketball, and JP Marra. Please read on.- Adam Cabal
AC: What initially attracted you to hardcore? Any particular bands, people, etc?
JD: This is an interesting question. I was in 7th grade when Nirvana released Nevermind. Of course I heard "Smells like Teen Spirit" on the local Northern Maine shit rock station, and I dug the song and didn't think much of it. Fast forward maybe six months later, the summer between my 7th grade and 8th grade year, my friend from across the street got a dubbed copy of Nevermind and I actually heard the entire record. I think from June to July we listened to that tape from beginning to end all day every day. We had this crappy boom box we carried around with us to the basketball court and to the park where we would go to throw firecrackers at eight-year-olds. Well I wanted to get the CD so I could listen to it on my dad's big stereo, so while looking for it at the store I discovered Bleach. As soon as I heard this record I was hooked on what I would learn was called underground music.
Of course this was way before the Internet, so CDs came with little fold up catalogs from the record label or a small distro or something. A Sub Pop one came with my Bleach CD, so as I saved money up from my allowance I ordered CDs and tapes from bands like The Melvins, TAD, and Soundgarden; pretty much anybody that was on Sub Pop at the time. Then I would read the liner notes in those records and see what bands they thanked and try to find records by those bands. Halfway through my 8th grade year (December 1992) I was a total grunge rocker kid. I had Kurt Cobain hair and wore flannel shirts everyday. I was pretty much a spitting image of what some douche bag was selling to the world as the marketing concept "grunge." But hey, I was in 8th grade.
I lived in Northern Maine at the time (Aroostook County) where there was nothing but B-52 bombers and potato fields, so I was pretty much in a no show zone. But the Cold War was over and Loring Air Force Base was closing and my dad got orders to another great white north B-52 base, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. So the summer after 8th grade we loaded up the brand new 1993 Ford Bronco and headed west. But we had a stop to make first in my parents' home town in Southeastern Indiana. It is right next to Cincinnati and we stayed there for three weeks. My cousin who was seventeen at the time was really into punk and hardcore. We talked about music and he took me to my first three shows in Cincy. I'd like to say they were the biggest punk and hardcore bands of the time, but to tell you the truth I can't even tell you who they were. But I knew I loved going to shows. Even though it was scary as fuck. There were real dudes there that were really tough. They were friends with my cousin but that didn't mean they wanted to be friends with me. This is something I think scenes are lacking in today, but that is a different story.
So I get to North Dakota and start school, as a military brat I was used to starting over, but this time it was different: I was in high school and had to go to school off-base with non-military kids for the first time in my life. Kids from North Dakota, yeah they are dicks. I guess being from a state that does absolutely nothing for the country will do that to you. They despised military kids and we despised them. Well except for the Indians. That will come into play in this little tale a little later. So I was trying to make friends in the awkward 9th grade. I got pretty tight with some fellow military kids, but they were all into Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr Dre and pretending they were from Compton and shit, and for a grunge rocker like me, that shit was just unacceptable.
My science lab partner was this Indian (note I said Indian no matter what some PC douche bag wants you to call them, they prefer to be called INDIANS) dude with a shaved head named Chris Red Eagle. We got along pretty good and started hanging out at lunch and shit...with his other Indian friends...with shaved heads. I made him some sweet Sub Pop mix tapes and he gave me a mix tape of some shit I had never heard anything like before: Skrewdriver, Agnostic Front, Breakdown, Youth Defense League, Arresting Officers, Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today, SSD, Brutal Attack, and Last Resort. I still have that tape as a matter of fact.
I started hanging out with that dude and his friends a lot. Eventually Kurt Cobain killed himself, but by the time that happened I was over the "grunge" thing and was into hardcore and RAC music. I started hanging out after school with these dudes downtown, meeting older dudes, I mean like in their mid to late 20's. I was a new guy so I got treated like shit and I eventually got my head shaved and got some boots and boom I was a skinhead. Yeah, North Dakota might not be skinhead heaven, but it was something. Only thing is I figured out these dudes, despite being right wing as fuck, were also big into AIM (American Indian Movement) politics that I couldn't bring myself to agree with. Even though I was accepted in their group, it was something I wanted to distance myself from. So I stopped hanging out with those dudes about halfway through 10th grade. But I was really into the music. I was getting CDs, tapes, and records of any Hardcore/Oi/RAC band I could get a hold of.
There were a lot of punk and hardcore shows in Minot that I went to, mostly unknowns heading somewhere from the Twin Cities or something. One really good show I remember was Bikini Kill and Fitz of Depression. There wasn't much of a hardcore scene in Minot in the mid 90's, but it was all we had and we made the best of it. I was still doing the skinhead thing, although I never did the gay ass braces (suspenders) thing. If you ain't from England and you wear braces, you deserve to get beat up. That's another thing. There were lots of fights in Minot, people had to earn people's respect. Also there were constant fights between town kids and base kids.
Then between my Junior and Senior years, I had to move to Alaska. While I was there I started a hardcore band that wrote one song and really sucked balls. We were called Stone Fish. But I think we were the first ever Alaskan Hardcore band.
Sorry for the long answer, but I always wanted to type that out.
AC: I understand you lived in Alaska for a period in time. Any interesting stories form that? What about Hawaii? What the hell was there to do in Minot, North Dakota?
JD: Alaska is awesome. The people are a special breed, everyone carries a gun and nobody messes with anybody. Well, I didn't live in Anchorage. I lived in the Mat-Su Valley so it was REAL Alaska not that city shit. Probably the most interesting thing I can think of for your readers is the fact that (and I just found this out like four days ago reading Wikipedia) I graduated high school with this chick: http://www.visitapril.com/aboutme.html. My school's total slut became a porn star. Go figure.
Hawaii was alright I guess. I was pretty young living there, from the time I was born until like first grade. I learned to write in cursive before I could print because of some weird teaching system they had.
As for Minot, I talked about that earlier.
AC: Talk about your experiences in Iraq and your opinion on the current situation over there.
JD: Iraq is probably one of the shittiest places on earth that is not in Africa. And the sad thing is, since we have been in that hell hole, it has actually gotten better. I'll tell you what, don't believe what defeatists and turncoats will have you believe. We ARE NOT losing that war. We WIN every military engagement we are in. The Iraqi Military and Police Force are on track to be able to operate on their own. There are a lot of problems there and it is going to take a lot of time to get everything running smooth; but we can't leave, not yet. We got ourselves into this for whatever reason, and we need to finish the job. If we leave Iraq now, we will just have to go back in a few years and kill a bunch of ragheads there that want to fuck with us. You can't reason with those savages, the only thing they understand is violence. That is what their "Religion of Peace" revolves around... I have spent a lot of time in the Middle East and I have learned that those are the most fucked up, disgusting people on the face of the earth. They have no respect for any other religion. However, if you do something that they feel is insulting or disrespectful to their religious beliefs they riot, murder, and vow revenge. You don't see Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, gay ass Wiccans, Odinists, Hale-Bopp Comet worshipers, or any other damn religion doing that, do you? You can quote me on this: I HATE MUSLIMS. And as long as we are on the subject, you know what are worse than Arab/Persian/Asian etc. Muslims? American Black people that become "Muslim." Guess what dude, YOU AIN'T. Quit looking for attention or trying to be the "angry black man." Those real Muslims in Dirka-Dirkastan? Yeah, guess what? They called and they don't like you. Deal with it.
AC: You started Demand Records in 2006. What was the motivation behind this and where do you hope to take the label?
Well hardcore has given me a lot. I had some money sitting around so I wanted to help some bands get some material released so it would possibly help them get on to bigger and better things. Right now, since I moved back to Florida and my rent is much higher, it is harder for me to get the money together for releases. I still plan on releasing stuff in the future, just no more CD-EPs. While I am not looking to make money, I can't operate at a loss and continue to put out records. If I put out another CD it will be a full length because it costs the same to produce, but you can sell it for a higher price and actually break even. But more than likely I will just be putting out vinyl and also providing digital downloads of the records, because lets face it nobody buys CDs anymore. The record is going to get leaked and shared online anyway. Except for people that buy CDs to support bands, the only music people really buy anymore is vinyl for collecting.
AC: Discuss the enigma that is Ian “Ran” Hickey.
JD: Ian is my homeboy. I love that dude to death, and I really hope he is safe when he goes to Iraq later this year. I've toured with that guy, fought along side that guy, introduced him to friends you just don't introduce anybody to, and we got a few ideas that are going to come together when he gets back from Iraq that just might shock the world.
AC: What are your Top 3 shows that you've been to?
JD: This is a tough one. I think my favorite show that I can think of, and it changes depending on my mood, was Blood For Blood and Hatebreed in like 2002 in Seattle, Washington.
Another great show was Botch's first Last Show, in Seattle, but that was because an "altercation" occurred between myself, my friends, and the band Darkest Hour. That was pretty fun.
My first show at Romans in Brockton was pretty fun too.
AC: Assemble the following Nirvana releases in order from favorite to least favorite and explain your reasoning: Bleach, Incesticide, Nevermind, In Utero, MTV Unplugged in New York, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah.
JD: In Utero - I LOVE Steve Albini.
Bleach - This record would be flawless if Dave Grohl wasn't drumming for Scream at the time it was recorded.
Incesticide - Not really a real record, but good Pre-Nevermind stuff on here.
Nevermind - It might have got me started in this lifestyle, but damn, this is an over produced pop rock record in retrospect.
MTV Unplugged in New York - This IS NOT Nirvana, Nirvana is noise and angst, this is quiet and a gimmick record.
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah - Even if this wasn't just cashing in on Nirvana to make money it would still suck because lets face it, Nirvana sucked live because Kurt was always so high on heroin he couldn't play guitar and sing at the same time.
AC: You took over administrative duties for the Central Florida Hardcore board late last year (2007). How/why did you choose to take on this responsibility and where do you hope to take the board into the future?
JD: Well, my friend Paul (BHC) and I had plans to do some bad ass shit. We enlisted David to help because he knew some internet shit. Then the dude we got to help us revamp the shit kinda flaked out I think. We needed to get money to help redo it, so we decided to make t-shirts and have a show where if you came to the show you would get a shirt. But in typical CFL fashion, the artist never finished the design and of course for some reason we never followed up. Hopefully we can actually get what we want to do done. I'm just as guilty as the other two about blowing it off but I want to finish what we set out to do.
AC: What does thelurk (worst fucking poster) have to do to get banned already?
JD: I think honestly the only way he would really get banned would be if he did something in real life so bad that he probably would quit posting on his own anyways. However, we know that will never happen because that dude doesn't hang out. I think we are stuck with him until he gets bored of us or gets a super computer virus or something.
AC: Demand Record’s first release was from Clearwater hardcore band Evasion. This band is fronted by quite the character in JP Marra. What do you really think of this guy?
JD: JP is a complicated subject for me. If that dude acted the way he does ten years ago, he would have gotten the shit beat out of him so much, because I don't think he is the kind of guy that would get it the first time he got beat up, and would keep acting like a douche. There have been a couple time where I almost beat him up, or at least maced him, but the only thing that stopped me was the fact that he would be a bitch and snitch to the cops in an instant.
Putting that on one side, on the other side I like what he is doing with promoting shows in Tampa. I think it is a good thing, even if he does bring a lot of shitty hype bands here. At least he is bringing bands here that kids come out to see and have a good time, because really that is what it is all about: having fun with your friends. Personally I don't go to, or will never go to one of his shows because I think the dude that runs the venue (not the actual skatepark) is one of the biggest shitbags in all of Florida and deserves to get shot in the face with a shotgun. That dude will never get a dime of my money.
Overall though, I really don't have an opinion of JP. I put out his record because his band was good. I think he means well in a lot of the stuff that he does, he's just in a different generation than me. Other than now and then, he doesn't bother me. My advice to him is to learn when to shut your mouth.
AC: Are there any places in the world that you haven’t been that you would like to visit?
JD: I really want to go to Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, but not so much Finland.
I would like to encourage everyone in the world to visit the Island of Guam once in your life. The people there are the friendliest on earth.
AC: Do you think the Celtics could win the title this year? With their aging roster I feel their window of opportunity to win it all is two years at most. What do you think?
JD: I think they can (as of today they are tied 2-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals). Ray Allen is going to have to start shooting better though. I think they have a three year window. I think they can win at least two if they resign Posey, Powe, and Big Baby. They need to keep playing the way they are and continue to improve. They just need to stop signing white dudes, I mean Scal is getting like $5 million a year to sit on the bench in a suit (and not because he is hurt). And the only thing Pollard was good for this season was telling kids to do drugs (of course this is while he was sitting on the bench in a suit because he was hurt).
AC: Anything else you would like to tell the readers (all three of them) about Josh Demand that they might not already know?
JD: My Blood Type is O Positive. I despise drugs. I ran a marathon once while I was in the Army, I finished 3rd from last.
