Soapbox Zine interview
SB: as far as I understand it Suburban Crisis is a streetpunk/hardcore band outta NY, what part of the big apple are you from? SC:We are from a town called douglaston, in the borough of Queens.
SB:I was surprised when I talked to you, SC isn't like some real small time band, you've played with some great street band such as The Casualties, Unseen, Violent Society, The Krays. I bet that's cool as shit. SC:The cool thing is those are bands that the band loves and listens to so its great to rock out on the same bill as them. They are all really cool guys personally too.
Sb: do you want to talk a little about your releases you have and how people down in florida can get ahold of them? hopefully I can distro you guys through my distro FWS.
SC: Well, we have several 7"s we have been featured on. The 2 most popular ones are the split 7" w/ the Truents that was put out w/ Guillotine records zine, and the split 7" w/ Sucker Punch. Well the availability is limited in terms of picking it up in FL. I'm not to sure if we have any music in the record stores down that way (seriously doubt it). If anyone is interested they can order it off our website http://drink.to/subcrisis write me at the address below.
SB: where would you say your band has played that you felt your music has had the greatest response? SC:Well there have been several occasions where we have gotten good resopnses at at many different places. We played a show at this shithole in our neighborhood called the voodoo lounge. It was pretty fun the whole palce was dancing and just tearing the pace apart it was great. WE ahd to pay for a broken mic but it was worth the fun!
SB: who is in the band and what do they do?
Spencer (me) I play bass
Sean plays guitar and is the lead vocals
Shonen plays drums like a maniac
SB: are you planning on touring or recording anytime soon? you should definitely come to pensacola if you tour again, I think you guys would like it a lot here, there's a good scene and its getting better.
SC: We have already started recording and are looking for alebel to put a full length CD out w/ us. AS for a tour we aren't to sure what our plans are yet. The most popular idea amongst the band right now is an east coast tour. How far south is a question we don't know due to the fact that we aren ot all the well known down south. from VA is pretty much where people may have heard of us before on the East coast. If we were able to we would tour all over the place.
SB: Is Suburban Crisis a sXe band? do you have anything politically you stand by?
SC: We are actually drinkers indeed. The subject of alcohol consumption pops up in the lyrics occasionally. Politics ... well we aren't all that political. On a personal basis we are all pretty much moderate. WE don't believe any left or righty politics.
SB: Well spencer, I totally appreciate you taking time to talk to me about your wicked ass band, hopefully next time I ask you questions they will be better formulated and everyone here can find out more about you guys.
SC: no problem I think it was an alright interview. word to big bird next time i'm sure it will be better!
SB: anything you want anyone to know in closing? how can these crazy floridians get hold of ya?
SC: Thanks for talking to me!
Write all inquires If you want a list of merchandise send SASE
Suburban Crisis
69-21 Douglaston NY 11362
USA
SubCrisis 3 @ aol.com
http://drink.to/subCrisis
Concrete Reality zine
Concrete Reality: How long have you guys been together and when did you start?
Sean: We came together in spring of 1997 and I guess that'll be three years since we came together after Chris started a band and me and Brian were both in a band and both bands sort of broke up. Another singer we had, an old one, came from his band and then me and Brian kind of formed and then we kicked the old singer out.
Chris: I'm Chris, I play bass. Sean plays guitar and Shonin(Brian) plays the drums.
CR: Are you on a label?
C: We're not on a label, we're not looking for any big wedding or anything, between us and a label. We'd like to put out more stuff and we'd like to get more exposure but besides that we're not really hunting for that exactly. I mean, we're not looking to get signed.
S: We're basically just looking for someone who will help us put out a full length and possibly get around, tour wise. If anybody could help us out that's cool about it.
CR: Are you in the position to do a tour right now, are you in school or anything else that your committed to?
S : During the summer we can, like spring break and stuff like that. After this semester is over it'll be a lot more flexible.
CR: Is the scene in Little Neck more tightly knit than in other places you've seen?
S: Well the scene isn't really from Little Neck, it just happens to be where we're from and where a lot of our friends are from. When we play shows a lot of our friends from Little Neck come down. Where ever we're playing most of the time as long as it's easy for them to get there because most of them don't drive and the ones that do drive usually do their best to get down there and get everybody there.
CR: Do you get a different reaction from the city crowds compared to people around here and where you live?
S: Basically, people usually react to us well, like anywhere we play. In the city, people my not just know the words or know the songs as well just because they're not from around here. They still, I guess, like us equally. It's just the kids around here know us better and they know the words so they dance a little more.
CR: Chris, what is it you said you were going to do with starting to book shows here at the Voodoo Lounge?
C: I'm toying with the fact of trying to book shows here more often and try and get more shit going on here along the lines of old school Hardcore and Punk. A lot of this metal shit comes around here, you know that's their music and I just want to be able to hear something around here that's more my liking. I want to start seeing more of that around here. I just also think it would be better if the money was handled a different way in Voodoo Lounge because a lot of people get fucked over around here. So, I figure it would be a lot better if I was dealing with it and I was able to help out a little more, you know.
S: That's part of why we haven't played here since last May because we had a little problem with booking shows and money and stuff. So, we want to get it a little more in our hands with what we're doing.
CR: What's the last 7" or split that you've put out?
S: The Truents split 7" and a split 7' with Sucker Punch came out late August, the same week. We had an American European compilation come out, a street punk compilation, that we have one song on. That was the most recent thing.
C: That was like, October.
S: 'When The Kids Rule The Streets' compilation is coming out pretty soon I think. We have a song on that.
CR: Do you have a political opinion, or any of which that you express through the band?
C: Well, within the band we don't preach too much about politics but for the most part we're pretty moderate about our politics. Everybody believes a little bit differently within the band but a lot of kids are preaching anarchy, communism, nazi's and all that shit. Both sides of the spectrum, they just don't make sense to me and we don't think that they should be able to preach bullshit like that when they don't know what they're talking about, and get away with it. Besides that, we really don't preach to much. We really don't like mixing our politics with our music too much because we feel people should just have fun and not argue about politics.
S: We're a band that , umm, we're not like nationalists but we like America. We understand the problems in America but we still believe it's a good country. Other than that we don't talk about it, most of ours songs are socially oriented, more about people.
CR: What are your three favorite releases that you've heard this month or that are out recently?
S: I picked up my little brother, The Unseen, their new CD and I thought that was pretty cool. I think that's pretty much the newest shit I have, I haven't really been record shopping lately. I bought the Blood For Blood, Hudson Falcons split seven inch which was pretty cool. They did a Wretched Ones cover, the Wretched Ones I'm a fan of so that was pretty cool. Besides that I haven't really been out buying records.
S: The last record I bought was a Frank Sanatra record, so I guess that doesn't count as last month.
CR: Anything your looking foward to coming out?
S: I'm looking forward to anything the Toy Dolls might be putting out in the future anything they put out I' m always looking forward too. I'm hoping the Anti-hero's come out with something new.
C: The Krays are suppossed to put their CD out very soon, they're one of our favorite bands and one of our biggest influences. Everybody in the band likes them a lot, I think they're one of the best New York City bands around.
S: We play with the Krays pretty often and they're always cool guys.
CR: What's the biggest pain in the ass for you as far as keeping the band together goes?
S: Car. Transportation. I just started drivers ed. Actually. So that won't be a problem in the summer.
C: Taking trains everywhere and bumming rides
S: We've gone to shows with the equipment in shoppping carts, I took a bike to a show a couple of times, trains, planes, automobiles. Usually our friends are pretty good with hooking us up with rides.
C: And we'd like to take that oppurtunity to thank everybody that's drivern us to shows before, it's too many names to mention because we get so many rides so, you know, thanks to everybody.
CR: Where was your first show and how did it turn out?
C: Our first show we played know as The Nucsaince.
S: The first show was the little Neck church show.
C: Na, na. Shakers.
S: I don't count that. That don't even count. We weren't even together, we just sort of got together that night. The first show was the Little Neck Church show and that was actually pretty awesome considering nobody had heard us before and everybody was really into it. I think it was still one of our best shows.
CR: I think I was at that show.
S: We played three of them.
CR: What's your favorite type of brew?
C: Right now my favorite is Miller Genuine Draft, that's what I've been drinking a lot of. It used to be Bud but now I'm MGD style. I like the Grocery store kind of type of shit. Mad cheap sales and everything.
S: I'm a big fan of stout and I like Guiness, but I guess that's not really beer. I guess my favorite beer would be, I don't know, umm, Bud Ice. Yeah, Bud Ice is good.
CR: Do you know of LNW(Little Neck Wrestling) or are you involved in LNW?
C: Sean's a big part of that.
S: I was supposed to be in it like five times but I always had to do something. But hopefully in the future, I'm going to be flipping around on the 67.
C: I was on the original LNW. I used to just get drunk and we all used to go down to a park and beat the shit out each other, no coreagraphy, no plans, nothing. We just went at it, no holds bar, I fuckin' almost broke my neck a couple of times. But then John, the guy who runs that shit, started planning it and turned it into a like a gay ass WCW type deal. I want to kill him for that ( laughs).
CR: Any last comments?
C: Thanks guillotine for hooking us up and anybody who has hooked us up along the way. Keep the scene alive everywhere we go, fuckin' Queens, the city, New Jersey, you know where ever we go, Long Island, I guess. Everywhere we go, we just want to just try to keep it alive.
S: Fuck the tough guys at shows that like to do fucking karate shit.
The end
SHOW REVIEWS
SHow Reviews
DIY Zine # 2
1/19/99 @ Voodoo Lounge w/ TTD, TLF, Cold Front, Code Red, Foiled Again.
-Suburban Crisis played next and showed that oi! is not dead. They did a lot of songs, including a cover of YOT's "Honesty," and got the crowd moving the most it had the whole night. These guys are part of the DIY records split CD, so be sure to pick that one up (e-mail CPMnyxhc @ aol.com for one) and see what the buzz is all about. My favorites were "Staying Young" and "Kill All the Nazis" a song that shows these kids have their eyes open. Oi! is back so be ready!-
Guillotine issue # 18
1/19/99 @ Voodoo Lounge w/ TTD, TLF, Cold Front, Code REd, Foiled Again.
-Suburban Crisis, a trio from Queens, I can't speak highly enough of. They say first impression are really important and that 'they count", in which case these guys definitely made theirs a good one.
The Audience was certainly familiar w/ them and they had a strong contingent of loyal fans singing along and dancing during their set. The music was fas paced hardcore punk w/ an Oi! edge, combining early GBH?Discharge feel to the music, but there was a lot of New York mixed in as well. Sean(guitar/vocals) and Spencer(bass) both have charismatic stage presences w/ the edge of New York bravado thrown in. The music was well constructed, anthemic and highly flammable-strike a match and feel the heat of Suburban Crisis, cause from what I saw their day is coming!-
RECORD REVIEWS
DIY Zine # 2
-Suburban Crisis 100% DIY cassette 1998
100% DIY - I like that idea. This is the demo that brought oi! punk back into Queens. 4 songs of music that hasn't been played like this in a long time. I like this one a lot. It is on the hardcore side of oi!! so I have no doubt that it will appeal to a large crowd of kids. Another band who was smart enough to know that they would benefit from good productio. Lyrics deal w/ racism (ending it), growing up (or refusing to which is real punk, folks), and being your self. Of course, all the lyrics are either sung in total gang backup situations or at top speed, the way it should be. These guys are also on the DIY records split CD (which is available now cheap by e-mailing CPMnyxhc @ aol.com) and the band can be found drunk on the streets of Queens. Band info E-mail SubCrisis 3 @ aol.com-
RATS IN THE HALLWAY #14
Truents/Suburban Crisis 7"
THE TRUENTS do a couple of mid temponumbers backed by a good rhythem section and fine lead guitar line. I think it's supposed to be streetpunk, but it ends up as good 80's hardcore punk rock.SUBURABN CRISIS play it a little bit faster and a litle bit harder. With the exception of a couple of hastily screamed lines ala Youth Of Today, they bring a Warzone sound to the plate, complete w/ spoken words over hanging chords. A good split from NYC.-SW