"We just want to play fast, fun, wild hardcore!' An Interview with John Taylor of FocusedxMinds.

I recently had a conversation with John Taylor, lead vocalist for straight edge hardcore band FocusedxMinds. Here's what we talked about.

Sean Brannon: So tell me how FxM got started.

John Taylor: FocusedXMinds was started by Andrew Meier (guitar) and I. We were in a real fastcore style band called Armada. He played guitar and I played bass. We had always talked about how cool it would be to be in a more straight forward hardcore band, and just never got around to actually doing it. Last August we went to This is Hardcore [fest] in Philly and after seeing so many cool bands, after Mindset's set I went outside and asked Drew when we were going to start a youth crew band. He brushed it to the side and after ten minutes i asked him, "Seriously when is FocusedXMinds practicing?" So we got our bass player Brian in on it and then last our drummer Chris.

SB: What are some of FxM's biggest influences?

JT: Lyrically I would say just the frustration I personally see in my daily life. Whether it's on campus or seeing kids complain about their situaions on the internet while never changing it. Nothing I right about isn't something I've seen or I'm feeling. Music wise I know as talked about brotherhood, mental, Go it Alone. Just really solid Straight Edge bands. We just want to play fast, fun, wild hardcore

SB: I first heard you guys on bandcamp.com. What influenced the decision to post the "straight edge overload" demo there?

JT: Honestley, I tried to make a myspace page like four times. It wouldn't name the page right and you couldn't change it, it wouldn't let me delete it, it wouldn't recognize my email address. it was a mess. So we bailed on it hard, we knew a couple of bands that had used bandcamp as a means of streaming their music so we just threw it up.

SB: You guys were recently signed to 6131 Records and almost immediately started recording an E.P. Tell me about how all that went down.

JT: Yeah, I mean it was wild. We cut that demo in November and in December we were in talks with Joey [Cahill] from 6131 about doing a seven inch. I just heard what actually happened when we went out to Cali and I met Joey for the first time. I guess Walter from Rotting Out heard our demo at one of his friend's houses and approached Joey about us. I guess he said something about us just being a really solid straight edge band. Joey jammed our demo for a couple weeks and then finally decided to email us.

SB: That is wild. Cutting a demo and getting a call from a legit label a month later. That is a rarity man.

JT: You're telling me. That doesn't happen to bands from Midwest hardly ever, especially out of Milwaukee. We were lucky and we're still so grateful even now.

SB: That doesn't happen to bands from anywhere.

JT: That is true, but it's hard to argue that bands from the coasts seem to have an easier time getting hooked up with labels a lot quicker because that is where the majority of the big labels are.

SB: So, you mentioned that you recently came out to Cali. Let's just get it out of the way. What happened to the van?

JT: It was an electrical fire that started on the 405 in LA. We pulled over because it hurt to breathe, and by the time I got out of the van the front end was on fire. Both bands lost a lot of stuff and it was so surreal. I think we might have grabbed more of our stuff but that doesn't happen to real people. It did.

SB: The van incident happened on a Friday right?

JT: Yeah the day of our Santa Barbara date.

SB: You guys had 3 shows that weekend and didn't miss one. How were you received by the kids here? And did they seem to know about what happened with the van?

JT: We actually had 4 dates there, they were Garden Grove, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Pomona. All of the shows were a blast but the San Fran and Pomona dates were wild. over 100+ kids at both. There was a stage, kids were diving, moshing and singing along, it was perfect. Yeah it seemed most everyone at the show knew about what happened. Thanks to the internet word spread quickly and I think a lot of kids just came out to help us out which we appreciated so much. As for not missing dates Joey and hid girlfriend Nicole, as well as Nate (the vocalist of Sleepwalkers) drove us and Swamp Thing around the rest of the dates to make sure we didn't have to cancel any dates.

SB: That's awesome. I have noticed that the hardcore scene is the same wherever you go. If help is needed you can bet hardcore kids will do what they can to help.

JT: Yeah I definitely agree with that.

SB: You guys are on this years sound and fury lineup. How does it feel to be part of that lineup?

JT: It's really awesome. Last year Drew and Brian when out with Expire and they said it was awesome. Sound and Fury has always been one of the best hardcore festivals in the country. I've always wanted to go, and for my first time being a part of it, is beyond surreal.

SB: So what can we expect from FxM in the future?

JT: A lot more touring, we have a full month to do the east coast and the south with our dudes in Bent Life. We also have something in the works for the North West in the fall. Once this record comes out we're also going to start writing for our first full length. More straight edge, more hardcore, more parties.

FocusedxMinds is currently working on a 7" entitled "Stay Focused" that will be released soon on 6131 Records. You can find them on facebook, just search FocusedxMinds. Follow them on Twitter @FOCUSEDXMINDS. They are playing this years Sound and Fury festival and will be touring most of the summer. Make sure you check them out when they come through your town.

SUCH GOLD singer Ben Kotin Speaks out about recent stabbing.

Earlier this month, promising up-and-coming pop-punk band Such Gold stunned fans when they announced that they were cancelling their upcoming tour dates due to a serious incident involving a member of the band. The band remained quiet on specifics, causing the internet rumor mill to fly into action and suggest that vocalist Ben Kotin had been stabbed.

Ben has now come forward with the statement below which addresses the rumors, the cancelled dates, and upcoming plans for Such Gold:

“First of all I would like to apologize for pulling out of the Manscout Jamboree tour so last minute but I assure you that we would not bail on such an amazing tour without a good reason. There have been a lot of rumors flying around the Internet and I think it’s about time to clarify things. About three weeks ago I was stabbed multiple times outside of a party. I can’t go into any details but I will say that I’m lucky to be alive. I want to thank all my friends and band mates who saved my life. I’m very sorry to leave you all to decipher whether the rumors were true or not for so long but I felt it was necessary to keep to myself for a certain period of time.

There’s no telling exactly when I will be well enough to perform again but Such Gold will be doing some dates in the month of May with one of my best friends Skylar, from an awesome Massachusetts based band called Building, filling in for me. I ask that you treat him with as much respect as you would me or anyone in this band. Again I’m very sorry to leave you to speculate on what happened for so long. I can’t wait to get back on the road and hang with all the amazing friends and fans that I’ve met over these past few years. I also want to thank everyone who did know about this for their love and support throughout these past few weeks. Every day I wish we could be hanging out with The Wonder Years, Fireworks, Make Do And Mend and Living With Lions but soon enough Such Gold will be coming back harder than ever and I can’t wait!

- Ben Kotin, Such Gold”

This is an unfortunate setback for a band that is just coming into their own. Check out their music on bandcamp.com. Buy it if you like it.

Stick To Your Guns, Sleeping Giant, Darasuum Mini-tour.

Southern California bands Stick to Your Guns, Sleeping Giant and Darasuum will be playing 4 shows from Dec. 16th-19th. Admission to the shows is free with a donation of a sleeping bag, package of new socks or $5. All procedes will go to The Alpha Project. If you are in any of the four cities that this tour is going to be in you should make it a point to go. I have yet to see Darasuum live and am looking forward to it. Also for you collectors, STYG will have a shirt that will only be available on this tour. Also, Darasuum will have silk-screened posters. Only 40 of these were printed. I will make sure I get one of these posters. I got off the subject a little bit. Support this tour. These bands are doing this to raise donations for the homeless for the holiday season. You will be helping out a good cause and seeing some great bands.

The Great Commission are in need of some assistance.

Hey everyone, In the early morning hours of November 6th 2010 Strike First!/Facedown Records band The Great Commission was involved in a Hit-and-Run traffic accident just outside of San Antonio TX. You can read about it here. If you can donate.

DARASUUM INTERVIEW

Darasuum is a Hardcore band from Riverside, CA. They have released a Demo and E.P. in the last year and are currently in the studio recording another E.P. I recently had a chance to talk with Gabe to see what was up with the band.

Sean Brannon: STATE YOUR NAME AND POSITION IN THE BAND.

Gabe Darasuum: Gabe, i do the vocals.

SB: WHERE DID THE NAME DARASUUM COME FROM?

GD: It came from a Star Wars book. Daniel and I wanted to find a band name that was different. Band names in the English language are just too hard to think up these days. So we went to the Mandolorian definitions and found Darasuum. It means eternal. Most new bands are completely unaware of the band names of the past, that they try using the same names. I couldn’t even tell you how many times I’ve seen “all or nothing”. Every state probably has a band called that. We really wanted to avoid that situation.

SB: WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR KEY MUSICAL INFLUENCES?

GD: As a band, we like driving bands like Comeback Kid, Figure Four, Buried Alive, and Strife. But we listen to a variety of bands to avoid “stealing” riffs. I wouldn’t say we write original riffs but I like to think most people can’t figure out where we get a riff from. I’d love to keep it that way.

SB: AFTER A D.I.Y. DEMO AND E.P, HOW IS RECORDING A FULL LENGTH DIFFERENT? GD:Well we still haven’t done a full length. We’re working on another EP haha. I’m an EP freak. As a listener of music, I’ve always loved EPs because you can listen to that shit over and over again and always find something new you missed on a previous listen. Some of my favorite albums are EPs and demos. It’s more fun to write 5 or 6 songs that can be great, rather than writing 5 good songs and a bunch of fillers. So I’m always trying to keep it short. But eventually we HAVE to write a full length and I’m dreading it.

SB:WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO POST YOUR PREVIOUS 2 ALBUMS TO bandcamp.com? GD:Because I’d rather have our music out there. Nobody buys music really anymore. Especially in hardcore. Hardcore kids only care about vinyl and vinyl costs way too much to press, so we do the next best thing and give our music away for free. We even try to package our CDs good so that if kids want to buy the product, they’re getting what they pay for. But hardcore kids love to pull the “I’m poor” card and expect shit for free so we say “fuck it” and give it away. I’m not trying to make a living off of this music, I’m just trying to have kids learn our songs, come to a show and scream with me. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing to me. If people like our merch they’ll buy a shirt and then go home and download our music and that’s completely fine with me, because that’s exactly something I would do.

Here is a studio update

Here is the full set from their show on 12-26-2009 at the Pharaoh's Den in Riverside.

Darasuum - Pharaohs Den - 12/26/09 from Darasuum on Vimeo.

These guys have a desire and passion for their music that is seldom seen anymore. All they want to do is get the music out to us. Support these dudes! Buy some merch here. You can download both their Demo and Self-Titled E.P. absolutely free here. You can follow them on Twitter. Be their friend on MySpace. "Like" them on Facebook.

SUPPORT LOCAL MUSIC!!!

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BRAIN BANGER EP "MUNSONED" COMING SOON. EXCLUSIVE MP3 DOWNLOAD.

Louisville, KY band BRAIN BANGER, which features 2/3 of YOUNG WIDOWS and members of LORDS, BREATHER RESIST, and BLACK CROSS will release a new album soon, called "Munsoned", on Hawthorne Street Records.

For those eager to hear a track, the website Gun Shy Assassin is featuring an exclusive download of one of the new songs off the EP titled "Stay Down". The website also includes an interview with bassist Nick Thieneman about the release as well as future plans for YOUNG WIDOWS.

COKE BUST "LINES IN THE SAND" CD RELEASE. FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD.

D.C. based straight-edge hardcore band COKE BUST will release the CD version of their first album, "Lines in the Sand" today on Six Weeks Records for the first time ever. The vinyl re-issue of "Lines in the Sand" also comes out today on Six Weeks Records. The remastered and remixed CD version includes 15 additional tracks from various demos, 7"s, compilations and previously unreleased material.

Dying Scene is now hosting a free mp3 download of one of these tracks from the CD, titled "Time Theft". To download it go to http://dyingscene.com/news/free-mp3-coke-bust-time-theft/

Coke Bust is currently touring Europe for the month of October. Dates are available on their website.