104. Cris Powerhouse (Powerhouse)

We are trying to do basically bonus podcasts for every interview pod. So if I interview someone, I'm going to have a couple of buddies on. We talk about the podcast as well as go through a discography of that person. And I think we've done one for every single interview. God, going back 15, 20, and we haven't broken our streak yet. So those are some of the best pods. and check it out and let's get on with the

And, you know, yeah, prior to that, you know, it was all the usual suspects, ACDC and, you know, Led Zeppelin and, you know, that kind of shit. That's the kind of stuff that, you know, you start listening to when you're just kind of discovering, you know, music. Particularly, I was the oldest, so I was the guy that had to kind of figure it all out, you know. I have a younger brother. And so it wasn't like I had an older brother that could kind of turn me on to shit.

And my parents had terrible musical taste. It's like the worst ever. Like my mother, like show tunes are like just the worst, most punishing shit you could ever deal with. Like it was, it was, it was bad, bro. Like it was bad. So, um, so, uh, you know, just being in school, you know, I was pretty angry kid, you know, shit wasn't, wasn't exactly the greatest life. So, uh, I kind of sort out, you know, what felt right.

And, uh, I just, I met, I met some kids that listened to different stuff, you know, and then, you know, from ACDC and all that, it kind of, it became, I know Roger would hate this because he thinks that kids that start with metal and stuff like that are a bit more suspect, but that's kind of where I started like Metallica and Slayer. And, you know, that, that became corrosion and conformity and DRI and, This bankrupted slaughter from L.A. and, you know, we got faster and this and that.

And then, you know, shortly thereafter, the progressions are fast when you're young, you know. And then I got my hands on the the Cro-Mags demo. This kid. I was fucking up a lot in school. My mother had sent me to this all boys private Catholic high school that I managed to get myself kicked out of.

But. In that time while I was there, it was a lot of kids, there was a lot of inner city kids, you had either like really wealthy, like preppy kids and where you had, um, you had like a lot of inner city kids, but nonetheless, like, um, it was just this crazy mix of people. And, you know, everybody was kind of like on their own thing. And, uh, I just happened to run across this one kid. He was like a skater kid. And he, uh, uh, he asked what I was listening to him. It was a walk, man.

At that point, I was listening to a walk, man, you know, cassettes and shit. And he's like, yo, what are you listening to? And I think I had like, uh, uh, I might have a Metallica record going or something. He's like, oh, boo, that sucks. And I was like, really? He's like, well, what are you listening to? And he said, I'm going to make you something. And I was like, OK, sick. And this was, I guess, probably 1984. And he gave me this tape. And it had the first Suicidal record.

It had the Cro-Mags demo. And it had this band called Lethal Aggression from New Jersey. It blew my mind. I was like, whoa, I've never heard shit like this. Particularly, obviously, the Cro-Mags. It's like, holy shit, suicidal, crazy, just the best shit. I fell in love. That was it. I found me. Were

And my friend Gina was If she listens to this, what's up, Gina? Um, she, uh, she turned me on to like, you know, she was, she was definitely more connected with shows and people and all that. She was a year older than me. And so, uh, you know, we started going to shows, everything's going on in Newark, you know, pipeline had shows, uh, We took a few drives down to City Gardens, down to Trenton. But even for us at that point, that was far.

It's like, yo, why are we going to drive all the way down there? We can just go into Manhattan. It was 20 minutes. We could be at CB's in 20 minutes from my house. So it's like, why am I going to drive all the way to Trenton? And we did. If it was a good enough show, we would. Or there's a place, Fast Lane in Asbury Park. We could see shows there. Definitely saw a bunch of good stuff at CB's, L'Amour's, you know, L'Amour's was a big deal for me back then.

You know, they're putting out a lot of stuff that I wanted to see. I got to see like the carnivore retaliation record release party, which was just like insane. And that blew my mind too, because it was on a fluke. I was supposed to be at that show scene, Celtic Frost, and they got whatever the reason that didn't happen. And it became this, if you remember Flotsam and Jetsam, that was a band like Jason Newsom, Jason Newstep from Metallica had done before Metallica.

I was like, whoa, like it was some, next level shit like that that that blew my mind at that point that's i guess probably 1987 or something like that but you know those are the those were the places that we were making the rounds you know we saw some stuff you know uh irving plaza was still going at that you know was going back then um uh what's webster hall now used to be the ritz i saw uh you know the super bowl hardcore there the first one i saw the other one when the ritz moved um which

took over Studio 54 in New York. So, you know, I got around those areas, you know, but I was still pretty young. You know, I left New Jersey when I was, I just turned 21. So, and there was even kind of like a lull when it came to shows late, like late 89 into 90, you know, things, well, I guess maybe 90, things that got pretty violent. And so there was less and less shows happening. So that was actually one of the reasons why I kind of felt like it was okay to, to split the East Coast.

I was like, well, there's not even a lot of shows going on. I'm unhappy. This place sucks. I need to get the fuck out of here. And that kind of were some of the things that inspired me to leave. One of them being even that there weren't a lot of shows going on by that point. But a lot of places have come and gone since those times, man. I mean, we're going back a while here.

And it probably took... i don't know 25 years to figure some of that stuff out probably um but uh uh yeah i needed to get away from her she was a really bad person for me man like she was a pretty terrible human being in a lot of different ways and uh at the same time i had a girlfriend that grew up in new jersey and uh she did special effects makeup for uh for movies and she had a job opportunity and she said uh know she was going to go there and you know we'd been dating for a little while you

know maybe maybe seven eight months at that point and uh there was just one more reason i was like well you know i dig you and i you know i need to get the out of here like i'm unhappy like i'm not happy here i i gotta do something right and you know so it was kind of a you know a combination a lot of different things, but ultimately in looking back, it was more about just getting away from my mother.

Even when I look at lyrics from the band at this point, so much of it is, uh, I realized, uh, my mother, like, it's, it's just like, holy shit, man. Like when I look back, it's like, that was the fuck about her too. And I didn't even know it at the time, you know?

This dude that she worked for thought that Like, you know, he was going to get her away from everyone she knew in New Jersey, like her family and her friends and any any boys that she might have been, you know, seeing and this and that and everything. She would move out there with him and they would fall in love. She'd see him for who he is and fall in love with him. They'd become this amazing special effects power couple or whatever. I showed up and fucked that all up.

She had been working for him because she went out a few months before me. Then I showed up and that ended that whole thing. Then she got completely depressed. We needed to bail LA after

Um, and, uh, so i saw i i tell you why there's a place called the coconut teaser that was on sunset i got to see i saw a tool play there i mean i was kind of sick there was maybe maybe i don't know 40 people 50 people like way early on in their careers they didn't even have a release out yet you know they're playing on demo shit and stuff like that um my roommate had played in a band you know he'd done it was like a um this guy lauren good dude i liked him a lot um And he was from LA.

And so he, you know, he showed me around and he, you know, it was cool. We got to hang out a lot. Um, but he was kind of like in the know, you know, he had a band, they were doing like a, um, like an industrial band at that point. Everything was really starting to pop with that. You know, ministry was big and, um, uh, nine inch nails was just starting to come around and stuff. And they were on that. They were like on that vibe.

And he knew a lot of people, you know, cause they, they were kind of like for the local LA scene, they were kind of happening. And, uh, So, you know, they were rubbing elbows. A lot of people came through our house where we lived in Hollywood. Um, and, uh, you know, he, he, uh, he would take me around. So I saw a tool. He brought me to that.

I saw, uh, we went to, um, there used to be a place called Nana that was in Santa Monica and my ex is, uh, friend that we moved in with at the time used to work there and she worked there with this dude rob that was from cryptic slaughter and burton the singer from fear factory they all worked together and they would come through um where i lived and they you know they would grab each other and they would head out they will drive down to to santa monica together from hollywood and uh so i'd see

those kind of guys around and stuff and that's that was kind of who's coming through the house and stuff um so i saw a I saw Fear Factory's very first show. They played this bar called The Shamrock that was on Sunset. I saw stuff like that. I didn't really see... There wasn't hardcore at that point going on. I was riding the bus to and from work, man. So my day was consumed with going and riding the bus from Hollywood to like Bel Air, Westwood, and Santa Monica.

My entire life seemed to be on the bus. It was the worst thing ever, man. So... I didn't get out. I tell you what, this is a good story. So one day, our roommate, Sharon Burton, it might have been Rob at the time, came through and he looked at me like, hey, you know what? We're playing hooky. We're not going to work today. Do you want to come with us? We're going to go see this. There's a video shoot. And I was like, nah, you know what? I got to go find a job.

And they're like, all right, whatever. And I spent my day. I wasted a day looking for jobs. Nothing came of any of it. Um, but, uh, later that evening, they come back and, uh, I'm like, yo, how was that? And they said, yo, it got so crazy. I'm like, well, what do you mean? Oh, well, they said they kept playing the song over and over and everybody kept getting more hyped up. And then they started breaking shit. And then they started lighting shit on fire. And it was like crazy.

And I was like, yo, I was like, yo, what the fuck? Like, this was the video. Like, yo, it was nuts. They said it was getting too crazy. We left. They were like, we wanted to get out of there because it was going to be too much. And I was like, wow, what was the band? Like, what was it? Like, I was in some band called Nirvana. Like, the song Smells Like Teen Spirit. And I'm like, who? I never heard it, but it's like, fuck, I could have went to that video shoot.

That would have been kind of dope just to be like, yo, I was there, you know, say some shit. Those were the kinds of things that were happening down there. No hardcore, man. I was there 10 months. Most of it was me trying to get my act together, get some money in my pocket, all of that. That was pretty much my life at that point. You moved to the Bay, and where do you end up? I moved into SF. I've been in SF ever since. I got here in SF in 1992. And I'm kind of pulling a stigma here.

I've been living in the apartment I live in now for 27 years.

And he actually knew me from when I used to be like fucked up because we used to do drugs together and stuff. And, um, back in, back East, back in, in, in New York, New Jersey. And, uh, but he was out here and I'm already sober at this point. And, uh, and, uh, I just linked up with him, and he actually ended up being the guy that was playing in Powerhouse and said, hey, come try out. So it was funny. We were working on my car, and I'm actually just getting this car back.

This was the first car I bought in California. I got a 1974 GTO. It's rare. They made less than 8,000 of these cars when they made them. There's barely any left. I got one of them. It's getting painted right now, but it's just kind of funny to think. The day that Ernie brought Scott to demo for Scott to learn these songs, we were working on that GTO. That was back in 1992. So, you know, and here I am, 2020, finally getting this car, like, on the road. So, you know.

Yeah, it's been a work of pride. You know, it's... It's just kind of funny how I look at all the shit that's going on since I've been here, man. But Scott is a guy that, you know, powerhouse early on changed hands a bunch of times. I wasn't the original singer. Kevin Reed that played in Attitude Adjustment was, and he did that for a while. It was less than a year. Uh, there's, I mean, we've had a ridiculous amount of drummers go through powerhouse.

I mean, I have to think probably eight or nine drummers, you know? So, uh, there was a drummer before, uh, before I even got in the band, this guy, Gene Jones. Um, and then, uh, Eric Thomas came in and, uh, Old school guys been around, you know, the Bay area forever. If you've gone to a show, a hardcore show in the Bay area, he's probably worked security at it.

I mean, he's, he's just been doing the stuff for every played in a public enema, special forces and a whole bunch of other, you know, hardcore and punk bands and stuff like that. That's been his thing. And he was playing when I tried out for the band and then Eric left. And then we have big J and you know, after Big J, we had Kid, and after Kid, we had Walter, and after Walter, we had Ricky, and then now, you know, and then Walter was back.

You know, it was just like, I mean, it was like this whole thing. I don't even know how many drummers that is, but it's a bunch, man. Like, it's changed hands a bunch. Guitar players, before we had kind of what became the set lineup, there was, I think, two or three other guitar players as well that came through, you know. Can you talk

But, um, when I formally met him, you know, Scott had said to me, uh, Hey, Scott played in a band called Suburban Chaos back in New Jersey, and they had some demos and stuff, and they were cool. And he'd actually played in another band called Outta Control, which had a really dope demo. That was like six songs of just like... And at the time, I still go back and listen to it. Most people would probably never be able to find it, but those guys... Dope, dope live show. Just killed it. So, so good.

And then he moved out here and that kind of ended all of that. But those were a lot of people that, you know, we'd see like the Social Decay guys, the Lethal Aggression guys. Those are a lot of guys that were kind of like we'd run across on a regular basis back in New Jersey, you know, seeing the shows and stuff, particularly locally, you know, if we weren't going into New York. You know, that's the kind of stuff we saw. But anyway, you know, back to, so Scott introduces me to Ernie and Eddie.

Yeah, he basically just says, hey, you know what, this guy, you know, it didn't work out what kevin do you want you want to try out and i was like yeah come try out and so uh scott takes me over to ernie's place and uh it's a pretty wild spot man i mean like it's just like you know he lived on east 14th street like deep east side he's like 40 like he's 14th street and 48th uh 48th ave and uh It was just like, you know, it was like a million people come through his house all day, man.

Like there's always something going on. He had like some hustle going on this like wild shit. And, uh, he gave me the demo and he said, Hey, I don't got the lyrics, figure them out, you know? And, you know, if you can figure out what it is, you know, we'll practice in like a week or two and, and, uh, and we'll see how it goes. And that was literally how it started. You know, I showed up, they liked it and that was it. Like, you know, and. you know?

And at that point, that's when I met Eddie, uh, and the rest of the band, you know, I knew Scott. And at that point I'd hung out with Ernie a little bit, but I mean, Ernie was a dude, like there used to be hookers that would hang out in front of his, his, uh, the place he rented there. And he had like a little, his couch, he, he set up the couch.

So it was like just on the inside of the wall along the sidewalk, like the front door is literally like on the sidewalk, you know, like a little, uh, they had like these slide and glass windows, but, um, It had like metal bars on it and shit.

But every so often, just for kicks, he'd grab a big fucking handful of fucking fireworks, light them, slide open the window and just drop them out because he knew the hookers were standing just on the other side and shit just to like listen to them scream and go running and shit and just fucking, you know, lose your mind. You

Like if you got into the thirties and the forties, that was where like a lot of the, the, the, the Latin stuff was going on. You know, you get further East, further East, like higher up in the numbers became, it was more black neighborhoods. You went the other way. It was more Asian neighborhoods, but where they were, that was like the Latin neighborhoods, those, you know, 20 streets or so.

And that's, that's where they run when they were kids and stuff doing, you know, whatever they were doing at that point, you know, just being, being wild. I mean, these guys are animals, man, like in the best way, but animals like out of their minds.

And I'm like, okay, that's kind of weird. Like you're – a Mexican punk rock hardcore kind of, I don't know what, but like, Okay, golf clubs. And he's like, check this out. And he walks down to the middle of East 14th Street and just starts smashing golf balls down the middle of the fucking street with cars coming. I think it's the greatest shit ever. Just laughing, thinking this is awesome. You see cars swerving and honking their horns and speeding up, flying up toward us and shit.

He's just sitting there laughing. I think it's the most hilarious thing, waiting for the confrontation. He loved that shit. Yeah. I never knew someone that just thrived on drama the way that he did. He loved it. He fed off of it. He relished in it. Like, yo, I want to fucking argue with somebody. I want to punch somebody in the face. Just for fun. For him, that was fun. He was out of his mind, dude. He was out of his mind. He never worked. Like he lived on the barter system.

Like I never knew that dude to have a job ever until we, until we had a tattoo shop. He never had a job, man. Like, you know, he'd grind a little bit here and there, but he like traded for everything. Like, I don't know how the fuck he survived, but he did. So we always have over his head. He always had a car somehow. Like he always had a way to barbecue.

We'd barbecue to like four in the morning, like six nights a week, you know, just like, he always had money for beer, you know, whatever, but he, you know, He figured shit out, man. But he never worked. That guy didn't have a job. He was crazy. And then Eddie on his own. I mean, Eddie came from Mexico when he was little, man. His parents stayed behind. He had brothers and sisters up here. And I think he might have been eight or nine years old. And he came up here.

And his brothers were pretty wild, too. So, I mean, he kind of followed suit. No parental supervision at all. So... you know, they just, they kind of just became who they were and they, you know, together, it was like, it was, it was nuts, man. It was definitely nuts. I mean, and they loved, they just, they could drink, drink and drink and drink. We played in Brock at one point.

They put, you know, Warren, Warren Lee, if you know him, played, played for 25 to life and then he just became like, you know, guitar tech uh you know superstar working for uh slayer and haybreed and you know his resume is insane you know clutch and i can't even remember all the bands that he's worked for but um he was with us uh at that point and he figured that big jay and ernie and eddie and two other guys that drank 180 beers over the course of like four hours man And they were all still

standing. And they were just being wild. And it was probably like 20 degrees in the venue. Eddie's running around with no shirt on, swinging a beer bottle around, breaking shit. And just nuts, man. Nuts. It's literally like

And Ernie and Eddie are like, they go to get back in the car. And Mike's like, no, no, no, we're not taking that. And he torched the car. He just dropped the fucking, you know, dropped a fucking Molotov in the fucking car. Just like fucking watched it because the guy, yeah, it's not mine. And they walked back to the venue. Yeah. So fucking, you know, just wild shit, man. Wild shit. It was always, it was never dealt with those guys. That's for sure. Me being the sober guys. Sometimes it's okay.

You know, I was, there's a lot of handholds. I must've enjoyed it somehow because I kept doing it, you know? Yeah. Is, is there three powerhouse demos? Uh, yeah, well, yeah. So, um, there was, there was one that, uh, had Kevin Reed on it for sure. You know, that's the one that I learned a bunch of the songs that they had at the time.

Um, and then we had, uh, I mean, we had a few different demos really, you know, we, we did have, we had, there was the official one where we had, you know, call Fisher did the artwork has that, that guy on the cover with his arms crossed and the flip backwards. Right. I think

And he, he lived in the area and he'd worked for Rancid for a while. And so all these guys ended up on my house. We decided to watch this movie. And he brought Bill Wilson with him because John had known Bill Wilson from back East. John was from like Rhode Island or something. He spent time in New York and he's moved around a lot. But anyway, um, I was making the recordings of that demo, that particular demo, you're talking about the 96 demo.

And, uh, and he just happened to be there and he heard it. And, and that's kind of what, spawned the Powerhouse and Blackout Records working together. It's just because he was here watching the movie and he's like, oh, that sounds cool. I like that. I want to put that out. It was like, oh, shit, okay. It was literally like that. It was super casual.

We played with DRI, you know, at that point we were, we were playing with anybody that would, somehow we could get a show with, you know, um, we're playing punk shows. We played with that band face to face. Uh, we played with, um, uh, you know, and then when, when a hardcore band would come on, we would jump on that second, you know, just to get on something. But, you know, we played like a lot of these, we were playing these punk rock shows.

Like, you know, there's a lot of these like squat punk kind of houses that were like all over North Oakland, West Oakland, East, you know, just all over. And we would, we would play some of those too, just to have a show. You know? And I mean, I remember we played one and I don't know these, we're on the driveway and we're playing and there's like, you know, this is this kind of squat punk house and like crusty and fucking dogs have been shitting like all over.

And these guys start moshing and like whatever. And then they're falling into dog shit and they're getting like way too close. And they see, I know we're like all backed up against the garage, trying to stay away from all these guys. It's like, yo, I don't want to get in touch with that shit. You know? And, uh, but it was, it was thin, man. We played in weird spots. Like, you know, we played this place called brave new world, man.

And it's just like, you know, just like weird shows, man, like weird, you know? And it really wasn't, you know, in 94, we played the Berkeley square a lot. That place was great. Everybody loved the Berkeley square. The shows there were awesome. They brought everybody through there.

Um, you know, I mean, shit, we said we, corn and sycophant all came through there at one point you know but you know may have always come to the earth crisis coming through the crown of thorns was coming through there um murphy's law and uh you know i mean uh sheer terror and obituary i mean they they they had tons and tons of show like um no doubt had played that spot like you know it brought a lot of people it was only like maybe a 400 cap room but it was great like the shows went off there

and uh that kind of ended up becoming the place for us. And at that point we met like Eric Ozean and Redemption 87. And there was another band, my good friend Joey Vela had a band called Second Coming. And we all kind of met up around the same time. It's just kind of like everybody just kind of manifested in front of each other at the same time. And what didn't seem to exist at all, all of a sudden was there. And, uh, you know, I, cause we, we had played Berkeley square a shit ton of times.

And like, it was never our crowd, you know, there were people there, but it wasn't our crowd. And then one day all of a sudden it's like all these fucking kids. And we're like, yo, what the fuck? Like, this is cool. And, you know, shortly thereafter, all of a sudden we're meeting, you know, Joey and second coming and Eric and redemption 87. And we all kind of understood, like, it's just us. We got to do this. Like, and, and, And we really need each other to do this because it's just us.

And so, you know, we were constantly doing stuff. Eric was well connected. You know, he had done Unit Pride previously and stuff. He'd grown up in the Bay Area. He had good connections. He was a good schmoozer. You know, he definitely, you know, he had good bands. Like, so he had pull, he had sway. And so he helped us.

uh, with a lot of that, you know, early on, he was putting together a lot of like good, like, you know, 10 band, uh, shows, 12 band shows, you know, just, uh, all day little mini fest kind of things. And it, it, it was important, you know, we needed that at the time. And, uh,

It seemed like, because people, people explained to me at the time, they're like, we don't have Nazi problems here anymore because powerhouse beat them all out of the scene in the mid nineties.

There were things that would happen, you know, we, and it was more so, you know, the Bay is definitely a more liberal place. So if you ended up with somebody that showed up at a show, that was kind of a surprise. You went to Sacramento, like we will go out to sack, which isn't far for us, you know, it's less than a hundred miles. Um, you know, we, we met the hoods out there and pressure point and Mike Erickson and, you know, all of that. And, and, And same kind of thing.

We all knew we needed to stick together. But the issues there, or you went further east, you got into Stockton and Modesto, places like that. You started running across more of that stuff for sure. And they would show up. They would definitely show up. And we weren't going to turn down a good time. It's like, okay, cool. Here we are. Let's do this. We know what we stand for. Let's walk the walk.

Like I think I always say there's like a pre hate breed and a post hate breed world where like, songs kind of got built more around the breakdown not that there weren't always breakdowns before but like it became a focal point but like i mean if you think about a song like hypocrite it's like you guys are just raging like yeah it's wild like and really the whole style is like that like it's catchy sing-along music and just music you want to get bucked to like what what did you think when you

like heard those songs the first time

You know, if they had had something different, I may not have even been interested in, in trying out. I mean, maybe I would have, maybe I wouldn't have, I don't know, but you know, if they had been more like, you know, and poison ideas, a great band, but if they were more poison idea, I don't know if I would have connected so much or if they were like RKL and they loved all those bands. They loved RKL. They love poison idea.

They love, I mean, they had tons of bands, you know, West coast stuff that I didn't listen to as much, you know, I was one of those jerk-offs when I was young. It was like, oh, it's not New York hardcore? I don't listen to that. I don't listen to that. I had a very small view of music for a long time and it expanded as I grew up a bit. But even at that age, 22, 23 years old, I was definitely not well-versed when it came to that stuff. And I may not have even tried.

But when I heard it, I was like, wow, you know, this has got like a, a New York vibe to it. I like it. Like it's, it's a hardcore band. It's not, it's not a punk rock thing. Cause that's what I kind of understood happened out here more. There always seemed to be, you know, East coast was hardcore West coast was punk rock. You know, that's, that's kind of, you know, where the tendencies always kind of went, you know? And, and so when I heard him, I was like, Oh, this is cool.

Like I actually want to try it out for this band.

He, at that point, was already working with Brett Gurwitz and working on his stuff with Tim and Matt. I mean, you're talking stellar musicians. So he had an experience that we never had at that point. And so he helped us to kind of reshape some of that stuff and, I believe, make a bunch of it better.

So, so, you know, a little, a little constructive criticism can go a long way.

I'm like, fuck, yeah, we want to play with Madball. And we just kind of clicked. We clicked just like, like, you know, just it was like we had known each other all of our lives. And it was cool. You know, we hung out, they were hanging with us. We barbecued at Ernie's house and, you know, we ran all the, you know, did a little shows together. You know, we did, it was only for a show run. We played in, uh, we played here in the Bay. We played at, uh, the Berkeley square.

We played up in Sacramento at a place that I always say it's the colonial people. Correct me. Tell me it's a colony. I don't even know. It was some spot, you know, um, some spot in Sacramento is where I met Mikey hood. I met Mike Erickson. Um, actually i already knew those guys now i'm thinking about at that point but um because i knew them in 94 uh but uh and then we played the roxy and we played uh the showcase in corona

Like to think that they've, you know, they've maintained that and Freddie maintains the stage presence that he does still 25 years later.

I want to say it was maybe perseverance or something like that. It might've been 20 years, like a year or so ago.

You know, we ended up playing with a band called Power Assault in L.A. And as much as they swore that they had nothing to do with white power stuff, their following sure did. They they had chartered a bus and rolled like 40 people deep. Oh, geez. It is show, you know? And, uh, you know, at that point we were doing ignorant one and a bunch of so-ons and we made it pretty clear, like, yo, we don't fuck with that shit. That's not us. And we ain't down with you. That's your shit.

We're not down with you. We're just not. And, uh, we can either agree to disagree or we can really agree to disagree. And, and, uh, that, that became one of those times. And, you know, we were asked politely to, you know, stand down because things were getting, um, kind of rude during our set, you know, there was guys definitely popping some Sig Hiles and this and that.

And we, uh, we wrapped it up a little early and then mad boy got on and they played a couple of songs and some guy jumped up at the edge of the stage and Sig Hiles right in front of Freddie. And that was it. It was on. I, I'd never seen, I'd never seen big J's drum set get broken down so fucking fast, but everybody had pieces of his kit, man. And, you know, it, it became a thing.

A couple of our friends were already, you know, getting into it with them uh in the crowd uh you know big j jumped off the stage he still had a symbol on the end of the fucking the the the uh you know the stand and i just said king thing and he's like going through and i'm like you know a fucking bull in a china shop man you know i just i kind of caught him at the corner of my eye just going off the stage man you know 340 pounds of the guy going fucking flying through the air it's like oh shit

he just kind of plowed through there. And, you know, next thing you know, you know, security's breaking the whole thing up and this and that. And that was Iza. And Iza was always dope. And he looked at those guys and said to Freddie and those guys, do you guys still want to play and shit? And they're like, yeah, you know what? I mean, this is pretty fucked up. What do you want to do? And those guys were, you know, still being problematic at that point.

You know, they were kind of getting pushed out, but they're fighting the security and stuff. And the show just ended up being a wrap, you know? And that's kind of how the tour ended. You know, it was kind of a short one that night, but, uh, Good memories. You know, this kind of shit bond over sometimes, you know? Yeah.

And he's like, fuck you. I'm a Cowboys fan. And they were just kind of like, oh, OK. You know, like laugh them off or whatever. But he was just like, like, just like that, you know, just fucking. Yeah. Didn't he used to use a bucket as a drum stool? Well, yeah, because he broke the drums. He would break any kind of drum seat. Like if he had a drum thrown, he would break it. So he used a five gallon bucket. like paint bucket, you know, because it, for whatever reason, held up.

Yeah. So that's, that's what he used. He definitely did, you know? It was so rad. All right. So

And that, that was what, you know, that was the beginning of them doing something got to give, um, But we played with Indecision and Indecision killed it that night. And we played with Mabel, who obviously killed it that night. And 25 to Life at that point had played and 25 to Life was, you know, making a lot of moves at that point as well. It was a sick show. It was a sick, sick show. And, you know, we did a bunch of other shows with 25 to Life on that run. We played in Newark.

We played at the Pipeline and we played somewhere in Connecticut. Some skate. I know it wasn't even a skate park. We played somewhere else. some of it becomes a blur, but I want to say that was the time we were there. And I don't know, Ernie and Eddie and Jamie from Haybreed ended up in a diner and some drunk guy sat down thinking he was being cute and ended up with like a bunch of broken plates of, uh, you know, breakfast for dinner over his fucking head, you know?

And, uh, but, uh, they, uh, uh, we, we, we did, we did a bunch of those shows. And I mean, that, that was, that was the first time that we got out there. That was the first time, you know, and we played with, um, like maximum penalty and we played with, um, Murphy's law. And we played with, Oh, we played upstate New York too. We played in Albany. So in play with killing time, like it was, it was, it was a good run. It was, you know, it was only four or five shows, but they were dope.

All the shows were dope bands that I loved, you know, and it felt good to be on the East coast, you know? Yeah. How'd that

We played like out in East Stroudsburg, you know, there was a bunch of, it was good shows, man. Like it was just, you know, it was dope. And I'm playing with people like bands that I'd seen forever. Murphy's law that I loved. Like we were playing with Murphy's law. I love Jimmy to death.

Still one of my favorite, bands live ever just like he still kills it man like that band is just so dope I mean Jimmy's probably still one of my favorite guys to watch you know when he gets up there I just I know I'm gonna laugh and he's gonna play a bunch of shit that I just love to hear and it's gonna be awesome but yeah it was it was it was like a coming home for me you know to come back and just be like wow here we are this is where I grew up watching shows and now I'm I get to not only play

these shows but I get to play these shows you know with people that I grew up listening to and admire so much, you know? Sorry, what's that? Some real validation. Yeah, yeah, for sure, man. You know, for sure. And then, you know, and then just, I mean, there was just all these like little special things about it. You know, the fact that, you know, we were there for that reunion of, you know, Stigma and Kabula and Roger.

I mean, like, That's a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and we just happened to be there. I was sick. That was so dope. They played two songs, but it was like a fucking tsunami wave of people coming toward the stage as they started. It was fucking nuts. It's the kind of shit that you just... If you happen to catch something like that, it's the most... uh, like amazing thing you're going to ever see. It's, it's, you know, you're just watching this.

It looks like literally like a wave coming at you, but it's, it's, it's human beings and it's just fucking the craziest shit to see, man. And, you know, I got to be a part of that stuff, you know, to, to know, you know, this is my community. This is, these are my people, you know, and, and, and to just know that I've been able to be a part of it and be included in it means a lot to me, man. You know?

I don't remember exactly what the details were, but he couldn't make it. And so Willie Shepler was there and we'd already showed Willie a bunch because of, uh, you know, may have bullshit. So it was, it was sick, man. It was, you know, and, and, you know, Ernie and Eddie drank with stigma every single night. They wrecked the bus. Like we got yelled at for it.

You know, um, big J had to knock some, or actually no, um, Ernie knocked some dude up in front of, uh, uh, the SO 36 in Berlin, you know, big J come out and he was like, he'd just taken a shower and he's sitting there in his flip-flops and he's trying to walk to the bus and this guy's getting in his way and he's all drunk and stupid. And, and big J just kind of like politely put his, his arm on his shoulder to move him out of the way. Really?

Because he's like, he's not trying to have this dude step on his feet and whatever. He literally was being very like nice. I was kind of surprised to see him be nice like that. But, um, you know, he went to push him. The guy started going to try to swing a J and he just came from his side. Boom. Just knock the dude out. And then Mosh sat there. That was a tour manager and he scurried us up onto the bus and we had to leave.

Cause it's, you know, guys laying there fucking sitting in blood and fucking. Was that your first time ever to Europe? And, uh, yeah, you remember? Yeah. Yeah, it was. And I mean, the thing about going, I mean, we were so fortunate to go with agnostic front because like, The way they're regarded out there is just, it's nuts, man. Like it's nuts. Like every place, you know, and you get to Europe, particularly Germany, everybody's so proud of their beer from their region.

And so every single venue is like literally like trying to push like hand trucks full of beer onto the bus every single night. And Roger and the tour manager are like, no, no, no, no. And Stigma's like, yes, yes, yes, yes. And, you know, and somehow it all manages to be on there. And then Stigma and Big Jay and Ernie and Eddie will just rage, rage, dude, like all night.

I mean, we wake up, there'd be broken glass everywhere and food smashed into everything and fucking, you know, the curtains are torn off. And, you know, it just like... It wasn't much, bro, you know? And Stigma loved that shit. Stigma loved that shit. And he was like, ah, you know what? Yeah, the big one, he's all right, meaning Big Jay. Big Jay liked to drink, but he'd go to bed at some point. He'd just get bored with shit and be like, I'm going to bed, you know?

And then Ernie, you know, Ernie could drink a lot too, but he was like, you know, the Mexican, you mean, and Eddie, he's like, he's my drinking partner. He's the guy. He's the guy. And they would go, you know, that was a competition between Stigma and Eddie about who was going to drink who under the table that night. And neither one would ever, it was a, you know, it was like a legit Mexican standoff. Nobody was doing, you know, no one was getting the better of anybody, you know?

But yeah, it was epic, man. I mean, we got to play great places. I saw places that night, you know, I got to went to Prague and we were in Budapest and, you know, a lot of places in Germany, you know, and those guys had been going forever. So like the treatment that we got was just, you know, so good that you can never go back after something like that.

And we did, but you, you just, you think you can't go back because you know, you're just going to be like on like the worst fucking van tour, sleeping in hostels, you know, uh, funky communal showers that who, who knows where you're going to catch on the bottom of your feet. Like just like the, the, the, the worst shit that you'd ever really want to have to do as a, you know, a band touring and shit. You just figured that's, that's, that's the option.

That's the other, that's your other alternative. And it's like, ah, you know, It doesn't sound so hot. You know, you do it, but yeah, that's kind of like, that was a big deal, man. That was a big deal to go out with those guys.

I mean, you can't really call them a Guinea pig. I mean, those guys were killing it out there, but they were willing to be like the first try. And so it was, uh, Ignite and it was SNFU and it was, uh, us and was banned, uh, from Sweden called Veneria, which I guess is like, uh, you know, like a venereal disease or something. That's what they chose to call themselves. And another band that ended up being on the band's record label at the time called Deviants. And they were all great kids.

And it was kind of cool for us. We stuck out. We were like the hard band. So we were completely different from everybody else. And so it kind of worked in our favor in a lot of ways because we stood out every night. But to tour with Ignite, I mean, those guys, we were on a place called Home. They put that record out, and that record just to me is amazing. I love those guys. I love those. I mean, Zoli sang at my wedding. Zoli came and played at my wedding. That's how much I love those guys.

And Zoli also did Ave Maria at Ernie's funeral as well. you know, but we had a great relationship with those guys. We had a great relationship and they were more than happy to bring us. We played lots of shows with them here in California. We play with them in LA. They play with us up here. You know, we play in between with each other. You know, we had, we had good times with those guys and that tour was exceptional as well. I mean, they were like road warriors. That was 40 shows in 42 days.

Like those guys did not play around. Like there was no breaks. And, uh, uh, Yeah, man. I mean, those guys just same thing. We got really fortunate on that tour. But those are the only two European tours that we did. You know, after that, we did you know, we did our state stuff and all of that. And, you know, it wasn't much later. That was in 2000. And, you know, come 2000, well, end of 2003, beginning of 2004 is when things started turning bad for Ernie. You know?

Like you start with bangers, it kind of fades a bit, you know, but this one is just like all the way through it. It seems very planned out.

You know, cause at that point, blackout didn't have any intention of putting the, uh, uh, no regrets out as vinyl, it was only going to be a CD. So, so we knew the seven inch was vinyl. So we went to Andy Ernst, Art of Ears, and, uh, we did that record there, you know, and, and, but we, this was all kind of going on at the same time, you know, they, they, they happened not far apart. And so, you know, uh, it was strategic.

I mean, I, I got to tour manage for Lars for, you know, six plus years, you know, with, uh, or from casuals. And I watched him develop that band and he's, the man's got a really good business mind and he understands music and he's very good at what he does. And he was willing to lend that to us, you know, when it came to us, you know, putting out what we put out.

And so again, you know, yeah, to him, we talked about, song placement a lot at that point, you know, it was definitely like, okay, what, what makes sense? How's the flow this and that? And, you know, it, it got rearranged a few times, you know, and the seven inch was the same, you know, like we thought about it and it's like, yeah, we want, we want the seven inch to kind of fade out to what the CD is going to begin with, because we, we kind of close out.

It was almost like a bad brains kind of move, you know, um, where we would have that old school intro. that would fade out on the 7-inch, and then it would go into Hypocrite, which is what we used to always do. We would have our old intro from the demo going into Hypocrite. That's what we would do live. And so it all kind of connected. And anyway, same thing with the record. It was all about the flow. And even those songs, Power Trip was redone. I Should Have Known was too, you know.

All these songs were tweaked. They were definitely tweaked. No regrets, little changes. Nothing dramatic to any of the songs. The bones were there. But those little tweaks, man, they made all the difference. Yeah,

I mean, we did that whole recording in like a week, you know, like recorded and mixed and everything. And I know that seems like a long time in some cases, but for what we were doing, you know, we wanted to put out something really good. And so that was just taking our time. And we did a lot of those demos in a day or two, you know, but we really wanted this thing to be good.

But even at that, you know, there was still... a sense of urgency that Lars likes to work with when he, you know, he, and he did that. He captured something with us, um, by kind of demanding things out of us, you know, not, not verbally, not sitting there saying, Hey, you got to do this. But like he brought, he brought something in. I mean, he's, he's, he's, maybe I'm biased because he's my friend, but, he's a great guitar player. He's a great music writer.

I mean, the amount of records that he's worked on and the success of those records, I mean, you can't deny what he does. He's

Like, why would you be mad at that? Like, why wouldn't you embrace the fact that, like, these should be the guys that's like, yo, these are our guys. Like, this is what they do, and they're really good. Like, how could you be mad at that?

I mean, you know, we just kind of... we were just fucking around looking for things to do you know chris contos was there from you know he played with machine head you know played with attitude adjustment back in the day you know he he um you know definitely a a rock god you know been around forever um one of the sick ones i mean he's definitely you know he knows what the fuck he's doing when it comes to you put him behind the drums and he was hanging out too you know he was there with us um and

uh Yeah, it was just kind of goofing around. Like, yeah, let's do a little skit or whatever. And, you know, we were on, you know, this was like one of those taco missions where I think we were eating tacos pretty much every single day. We'd go into the taco truck. That was our thing. We hung out at this. There was this... Tio Tonio was a taco truck in East Oakland that we always ended up at. It was, it was there all the time. It was pretty good. You know, be open late, late, late night.

So we could roll in there at like three in the morning. And, uh, you know, so that was just kind of like the, the, the, what was in the air all the time. And, and, and so it was just like, you know, and it was a party vibe and whatever. And in the storm, particularly, you know, um, it's like, oh, this is, you know, put this thing together. There wasn't a lot of thought that went into it. Let's just do this thing. We'll make it sound like a party and this and that and whatever.

There wasn't anything super calculated about it. But that's Chris Cantos as the police officer.

It's like, yo, we're playing this barn in Ojai and there's a big crowd here and everybody's going nuts and stage dives and singing along and just the love that was shown to us, man. It was dope.

And I'd start driving at 10, wherever we were going, you know, if that happened to be 10, 11, 12, whatever. And these guys would keep drinking and keep drinking. And they'd pass out in like an hour and a half, two hours. And then I could drive and make time, you know, because they weren't going to tell me, I need to stop. I need to stop. Because then it's like, not only is it about pissing, then, you know, Ernie was the guy he'd walk into a store and And he was the point of sale guy.

So what was ever by the register, he needed to look at it and fuck with it and buy something. And, you know, so we never made time if it was in the daytime. So we always drove through the night and we had to drive to Phoenix. And we drove all the way to Phoenix. This is the other part that I remember about that particular show. We get to Phoenix.

And we finally get a hotel room because we're pulling in there and like, I don't know, we probably pulled in there like 10 in the morning, 11 in the morning. And we finally get a room. And I had to take care of a few things. I'm finally getting ready to go to sleep. And I go to lay down. And next thing I hear is slam, slam, slam, slam. And the hotel doors to the room I'm trying to sleep in and the next one over that 25 to life. And they're all slamming.

And now these guys, they're like little kids. They jump behind the bed and they're like giggling and this and that. I'm like, what the fuck? I'm just, what the fuck are you guys doing? Next thing you know, doors getting pounded on. And now the cops are outside. I'm like, oh, what the fuck? So I'd been up all night. I haven't slept yet. I drove all through the night. Well, turns out that these guys decided they wanted to rage down at the pool.

And they took all the fucking pool furniture and they threw it in the fucking pool and something got lit on fire. And I don't know, the hotel security showed up and, you know, he goes to say some shit and, you know, and Rick, Rick picked something up in front of him. He's like, ah, and like just threw it in the pool right in front of him. I think it was like the big concrete weight for one of the, you know, the umbrellas or some shit. Like, you know, so now there's just tons of shit.

There's no water in the pool, all the furniture, all the, all the concrete, the places, something's burning, the whole shit. The cops, The cops decide that they need to ask us to leave. So now I'm still no sleep. These guys are cracking up. They think it's the greatest thing ever. I'm just like, you motherfuckers, man. I'm so goddamn tired. I just want to sleep right now. So we get in the van. So not only are the cops just making sure we leave the property, now they're giving us an escort.

out of the city like they're following us they get on the highway with us and they're waiting and we literally get to the sign that said the phoenix city limits and they got on their laughies and they said don't come back you assholes and they fucking and they stopped on the side of the highway and then we just had to keep moving and we drove all the way down to tucson where our next show was didn't sleep that day and we played that show in tucson and for whatever reason we decided that we

didn't want to stay in Tucson. And I drove all the fucking way to, uh, San Diego before I got some sleep the next day. So that's, that's what, that's part of what I remember about that old hot show.

apartments it was like three three rows of three little apartments each and they're all connected so it was just rows of them and we used to rage there like you know on fourth of july a bunch of friends would come they would shoot like you know whatever the tech nines and whatever else they had shotguns and you know they'd blow shit up all night and you know it was just like one of those places you could be wild and no one really tripped and um you know ernie lived at the back one our boy circle

b lived in the middle one and big j lived at the front one of this one particular row and then across There was these girls that we knew that lived at the top one closest to the driveway. And then there was this dude named KJ Dave because he smoked a lot of dust that he lived in the middle one. And then his brother, Jamie, lived at the end one. And anyway, Dave used to do dumb shit. He did really dumb shit. He'd get he'd get dusted and he'd do dumb shit.

And so Ernie and Bob would have to slap him up every once in a while just because he was a jerk. Like the guy just did dumb shit because he was too too fucked up for his own good. And anyway, one day, you know, Dave calls Bob, say, hey, Bob, Circle B. His name really is Bobby. Hey, Bob, come over here. And Bob went over, and he went to open the screen door. And as he opened the screen door, Dave lunged out and stabbed him.

And he stabbed him in the heart, and he bled out in a couple of minutes, and he died in Jay's arms. And at that point, Jay was just kind of like, yo, I'm done. I'm out. And his best friend, I mean, they were in jail together, all this shit. They're partners in crime. These dudes rode for years together, Jay and Circle B. When that happened, it devastated Jay. I mean, Bob was a dope dude, man. Like he was just like he was a hard motherfucker, but he laughed about everything.

He was just not he wasn't an angry dude. He was always just, you know, like good spirit, this and that. I mean, even even when. You know. even when people would get heated, like him and Ernie almost fought one time. And Bob was laughing the whole time, even though he would do what he ever needed to do. But he just laughed. He was just like a good-hearted dude. And anyway, that fucked Jay up, man. I mean, you have your friend literally die and your arms just bleed out, man.

He watched him turn gray, man, in his arms as the blood left his body. And that was it for him. And so he left. And we were bummed. you know, it was a sad time, you know, but, um, we understood it. And, uh, and we ended up getting this guy named kid. Name's Aaron. He actually, he's played for, um, naked, naked aggression for years now. Um, but he had played with a band called I mad man that we knew from Fresno and Damon, the guy that did the graffiti at JP spot was the singer from that band.

And, uh, uh, Anyway, we got kid and he started playing for us and we did like a Japan tour. We went out there and we played with this band called Numb, who's really good. Eternal Brotherhood. Japan was dope. Like. What an amazing culture, like the amount of respect that like guests are given, the amount of respect that older people are given, it's it's it's it's pretty cool to see, man. I mean, the culture and the tradition is just like, wow, like. Pretty dope.

And then the shows were amazing, man. Like, packed. Just packed. Like, it was like the subways, like, you know, where they got those guys with the sticks. I mean, they literally crammed them in like that. And the shows were sick. And we had a kid for a while, you know. And we did that. And, you know, we did the Japan tour. And we were slowly working on music, you know. I mean, it seemed more like the barbecue and the hangout was almost more important at the time, you know. We were truly friends.

We weren't just playing in a band together. Like, we hung out. Collectively, like, almost every single day. If, if I didn't see Ernie five times in a week, something was off. Like there was something, you know, I must've been sick as fuck or, you know, whatever. I don't know. But we literally saw each other every single day, you know? So, you know, you know, the band was a priority, but yeah, at that point it just, you know, some, you know, roster changes and stuff kind of slowed things down.

And, We did the Japan stuff. And we did some small release stuff at that point. There was the 7-inch that came out

Um, but at the time we just, you know, there was, there were, it just kind of seemed like yeah you know what maybe maybe we're going to try to do something something else and we ended up talking you know aj from resurrection ad records was pretty aggressive coming after us and stuff like he wanted to sign us and wanted to sign us and uh he offered us some more money you know to do a record and we thought well that's a good thing we you know we didn't pocket any of it you know but it gave us the

ability to you know record at a pace that was kind of nice we had a little bit more time to do with this stuff so um

I mean, he just, he could do that on the regular. When, when, when we came up with that first intro, I was like, yo, we should have an intro. He's like, okay, I got it. He literally played that just like that. He just, he had shit in his head like that. It's, um, Tim from rants is like that. He's just got like shit rolling around in his head all the time. He's just like, yo, how do you have that much music going on in your head like that? Like it's, it's, uh, I admire it.

I'm kind of envious of it at the same time. It's like, fuck, I wish I could be like that.

And Ernie just called him up and said, hey, yo, you got a girl that could come in here and flow. And he showed up in, like, an hour. And he brought this girl. And she fucking killed it,

Like, I understand why there was definitely like a vibe that was caught with that whole record. Um, I actually kind of felt like, you know, what lies ahead definitely took more of a, uh, like a New York hardcore, you know, No Regrets definitely has a much more punk edge to it, for sure. You know, a lot faster. There's more melody to it. But as I go back, I like that shit a lot. Like, you know, some of the songs, the way they were written, they almost feel like a chase.

You can almost like as you're listening to it, you can feel the mosh in your head like just the way the riffs kind of circle around and circle around and circle around, you know. And and then we kind of, you know, we played a lot of hardcore shows with a lot of East Coast bands and this and that. And it's just kind of like, you know, things definitely got heavier, too.

And I think we were just kind of, you know, when it came to What Lies Ahead, it's just kind of where our heads were at at the time. You know, there's definitely songs on there. That record wasn't as successful. And I think, you know, I talked to Joe Hardcore about it at one point. He's like, yeah, you know, when that record came out, there was a kind of a weird lull in Hardcore. And that kind of makes sense. But, you know, it's a different record for sure.

You know, but I also felt like there were songs on there that in some ways were better. You know, like I, you know, Ernie wrote When They Come For You, like the music for that. That song still to this day is just for me, it's a fun song to perform.

So, uh, it's my life and, you know, bulletproof, like we, you know, back then we did play bulletproof live and then, you know, kind of came off, not really like listening to on our record, I think is actually a lot better, you know, not necessarily a live song so much, but when we did, when we did play it in Europe, it was kind of cool because Rob that played bass for SNFU would come out and we kind of extend in the middle there, like where the girl would normally flow and stuff.

And he would come out and flow and do all this shit. And it was fun. It almost became, you know, a little bit of a party. Like we had people jumping on stage for this and that and whatever. And it was, it was a good time, but yeah, the songs definitely got different. You know, I also, you know, No regrets. I was 25 years old, you know, 26 years old, 24 years old, 23 years.

So, you know, as we wrote a bunch of that music, you know, and my headspace was different, you know, I was pretty, you know, clueless to myself at that point, you know, and I definitely became more aware of some of my inner struggles and things that I have as a, what lies ahead kind of developed, you know?

And at that point, you know, we'd experienced a bunch of loss, you know, we'd had a lot of friends that had died, Bob being one of them, you know, we had a week at one point where three friends died in, in, in two weeks, you know? Um, and that's, that's kind of what inspired what lies ahead. Um, just kind of like, Holy shit. Like, you know, life's fucking crazy. What's, what's happening next, you know? Um, but, uh, yeah, I, I, I love both of those records for different reasons.

I, you know, I like what we did. Um, I don't know. I, I do feel like, you know, I, for me personally, I felt like I got better lyrically on the second record, you know,

There was a spot in Alameda. Alameda is an island right next to Oakland. It sits in the bay. And it's a town. It's not a small island. It's miles and miles long. It has tons of homes. Tens of thousands of people live on it. But there was a bar. And we'd been doing shows at that bar. It was a place called the Alameda Saloon.

And for what, whatever reason, maybe, you know, this guy, Jack that owned it, he was a lawyer of all things, but he owned this bar and he was willing to let Ernie do whatever the fuck he wants in there that he gave Ernie the keys. He fucking let Ernie book, whatever shows he wants that Ernie put a big, one of the big bouncy castles in the middle of the fucking bar for like a Halloween and shit.

And like, you know, the place would get wrecked on a regular with whatever, you know, whatever was going on. And, uh, you know, that bar ultimately closed. And that's where we had done a bunch of shows. And so Ernie needed a new spot and he just found this warehouse like deep East Oakland, man, like in the hood, man, like deep, deep, deep East Oakland. And, uh, it had been like a, like an auto body spot and, uh, you know, who knows, might've been a chop shop.

I mean, there's a bunch of them out that way, but, um, it had been an auto body spot and we got it. It still had like the spray booth sitting in the back and he'd pulled the stage out of the Alameda saloon and he started throwing together some like little funky shows and this and that. And, uh, and the room was cool, man. I mean, you could put a lot of people in that room.

Like you, we probably could have put six or 700 people in that room and, uh, just realized that like, Hey man, like we're going to do this shit. And we're going to ask some of our friends that are touring bands that are coming through from like all around the country and shit. Like it's fucked up little stage. Ain't going to cut it, man. Like it was, it was a fucked up little stage. And so me and my roommate at the time, this guy Dayton, uh, who you can see, he posts a lot of stuff on Instagram.

He's got a lot of good old photos of all sorts of shit. He was a great, great photographer, but he was my roommate too. And we ended up building a stage for the place right before AFI played there. Cause we knew it was going to be a big show and that the stage just wasn't going to cut it. And we had stayed up all night and we built this stage. And you know, next thing you know, like it was a good turnout. I don't know.

It was like five or 600 kids at the show, but there was probably like 150 people on the stage and, And we're sitting there and we're like, Oh fuck, is this thing going to even, you know, we were waiting for it to collapse because I mean, we literally stayed up all night long. We finished it at like one or two o'clock in the afternoon, went home and slept for like two hours and then went back for the show. And, uh, the glue was probably not even dry at that point on the stage, you know?

And, uh, but it came off was big. It was a dope stage. It was like 20 feet wide. It was like, I think 12 feet deep. Like you could, And anyway, we had AFI played there, Redemption played there, 25 to Life played there, VOD played there a couple of times. Murphy's Law came through there. Agnostic Front came through there, you know, and and I knew that was going to happen.

And I was just like, hey, dude, like if we're going to ask these bands to come through here, we got to make this a little bit better. And so we built this stage and we actually built like a like a. almost like an amphitheater. Not an amphitheater, but we kind of built a wall and kind of a roof to it to direct the sound better and stuff and painted it black and whatever. And we set it up the best we could. And the place probably went for like a year.

I already had conned this dude to put it in his name, the lease and stuff. But I mean, anything could go in that neighborhood, man. I mean, if you wanted to body somebody, you could have. No one would have even known, dude. It was by some... railroad tracks covered in weeds and there's piles of garbage everywhere. And I mean, you know, the hood was right around the corner. Like, I mean, we had to caution people on the regular like, hey, listen, like there's a bathroom here.

You know, you want to come to neighborhood, come this way, leave this way. don't go up the street that way. Just don't, you know, um, cause bad things, nothing good will come with that, you know? Um, but, but we had great shows, man. I mean, we did, we had VOD show up one time. I mean, on like two days notice because they had a show canceled and they had a bus and they were trying to like cover costs and you know, whatever.

And, and we put a show together on two days notice and there was like, fuck, I don't know, 400 kids in there. You know, it's like, it, it, it kind of, you know, it was like a lightning rod for a moment. People just kind of knew like that was a good place to go catch some, catch some shows, you know?

And I'd have to call up Ernie and fucking talk him off the ledge and tell him like, chill out. Like, no, no, no, it's okay. Sammy's all right. Don't fucking don't smack him up. It's all right. You know? And, and I, I could, I could talk to Ernie that way at least, you know, and, uh, uh, and, but it just got, you know, and Sammy five said, fuck it. I can't do this. I can't do this. And that was kind of like, you know, you know, he got tired of being, being threatened on a regular basis.

So, uh, it just kind of fizzled out, you know, and it was cool for the moment, you know, it was like one of those things, you know, just kind of, it lasted for what it was. And it was cool for the time, but you know, we had a crucial barbecue with Murphy's law. We fucking actually ended up with this barbecue and, you know, rage with those dudes all day. And then they played a show and drank beer all night and whatever. And it was, you know, it was cool, man. It was a good place.

It was, it was, it was a cool place for sure.

You know, they can actually be a working band. I think Tara does a pretty good job at it too. I don't know their finances, but they keep doing it. So I'm sure that they're doing, you know, they're making some kind of money to keep going out, you know? Um, so some bands have managed to make a living, sick of it at all. Another one, you know, they, they can make a living out of it. Um, you know, that wasn't necessarily us.

Like, you know, we, you know, we could have good shows and this and that, but like, we weren't killing it every night. We couldn't demand lots of money. So, uh, you know, I had to work, you know, I had to start getting caught up on my bills because more times than not, I was, I was, the one getting the merch and, you know, I, I paid for the band ultimately that we had paid the insurance on it and everything was going to be a bit much.

And so I had to pull back a little bit, you know, I, I didn't want to end the band by any means, but at this point, you know, Eddie had left. Um, he lost a job when we went with ignite, um, uh, on tour when we did that, he lost a pretty good job. And so, you know, and he kind of got to a point where he's like, Hey man, like I got to make money. He, you know, he had a girl, he was getting married, like, you know, had a bunch of shit like that.

You know, he, he was kind of growing up, you know, so Eddie left and that became a weird thing. Cause so, you know, big J had left, you know, and it was us for, you know, quite a while. It was me, big J, Ernie and Eddie. And, and, and we were the unit, you know, and, and, and when Jay left, it definitely felt weird, but you know, we could keep going, you know, pretty easily. And then we got kid and that was cool. And then, you know, then we got Walter and that was dope.

You know, we'd known Walter forever and, uh, and we were a unit too, you know, and then, uh, and then Walter bounced, you know, he had, he ended up going back, uh, East, you know, some things didn't work out from here and he needed to leave. And, uh, he, you know, his, his parents, you know, had health things going on and stuff. And so he, he went out to be with them and, uh, you know, and then, and then Eddie leaves. And then, you know, we end up with, um, Abe that played in Low Life.

You know, Abe ended up with us and that was dope. And we ended up with this guy, Ricky Ross, who was really good, good drummer, really good drummer. You know, but all the parts started changing. So, you know, and that thing that we started with that just felt so right.

started feeling a little more disjointed and not because any of those people were you know um bad you know that just wasn't what it was it's just that it just became something that was not as recognizable as it happened and so um uh you know it it you know it just kind of it it just dwindled it was dwindling it was dwindling you know um and i would say this um So Ernie died from cancer. You know, he died in 2004. He died December 16th of 2004. He died of cancer.

He was only 37 years old, but you know, he kind of knew something was wrong for a few years prior to that. And his girlfriend at the time, her name was Kat. She asked him a lot of times like, Hey, just go to the doctor. We get this shit checked out, please. Will you just do this? And, uh, from what I understand, he did go and get tested in this and that, but he never went back to find out what the results were. And he always felt like something was wrong.

And he used to tell us, I mean, there would be certain times he's like, I know, you know, he'd be, he'd been drinking and this and that. He'd kind of start getting into a mood. Like, I know what I got cancer and this and, you know, and he just felt like that was it. Like he had it. And, and, you know, 2003 going into 2004, His behavior got different, man. He would get more hostile. I would argue with him a lot more.

We fist fought once many, many years ago when we were recording one of those demos, the 96 demo. But after that, we clicked super, super hard. There was kind of a mutual respect that was gained after that fight. And, uh, cause it was bad. We, we probably fought for 20 minutes. We fought and it broke up and fought, broke up, fought and broke up, fought and broke up, fought and broke up, you know?

And, uh, anyway, uh, it was kind of going down that road on a regular basis where we were constantly, um, like at odds, man, we were, we were arguing a lot. We were, you know, Ernie was hostile and, uh, really, um, just, uh, he was just in a bad way. I mean, and I, you know, looking back on it, I can understand it. But at the time I just felt like, he's like, dude, you're being such a dick. Like what the fuck, man? Like you're my boy. Like we're not supposed to be like this.

And he would just be like that, you know? And, and he would, he was just acting out and being aggressive. And, and when I look back on it, I understand it. It's like, yo, he, he was, he had to have been scared. I mean, how could you not be like, he knew something was wrong. Like he knew something was wrong. but he would never say it, you know? And it wasn't until like January of 2004, he and a good friend of ours, little Kev were driving. Little Kev was doing t-shirts.

He was printing t-shirts and stuff. And they were going for like a t-shirt convention down in Southern California. And Kev was driving and Ernie was in the car with them, with him. And, and, uh, they had to stop constantly because Ernie couldn't even sit in the car because he was in so much pain. Like, I think it took them like eight or nine hours to make the drive down. And it was the same or more to come back when they finally came back.

And at that point, Ernie knew like he had to go back to the hospital. And he went to the, you know, this is a guy that, again, he never had a real job. He never worked. So he didn't have medical coverage. So he's relying on the good graces of a hospital that's just going to take you in. And he went in there. And they started running some tests and then it looks like he's got this tumor that's pushing on his stomach and, you know, all this stuff.

And so when I look back at, you know, all of this, it's like, okay, well, that's why he was freaking out the way he was. But that's also part of why, like, the band started to dwindle just because it was getting to be hard to do it, you know? And then it turns out that, you know, they find this tumor and they say, hey, yeah, you know... it's like the size of a remote control. So it's like a good size tumor, man. It's big, you know?

And, and he says, uh, they say to him, well, you know, we could take it out. You know, we feel like you have about a 90% chance, you know, um, it's, it looks pretty good. And, uh, you want me to stop for a second with this car going? Are you picking that up? Can you hear that cars? Yeah, I

That's pretty good odds, man. Right. So, uh, he went into the hospital on Sunday. They had to prep them up, no eating this and that, whatever. And so he'd been there and he had a surgery on Monday. I talked to him on Tuesday morning and I'm like, yo man. So, so what's the word? How are you doing? And he's like, nah, bro, that's it. And I was like, nah, don't even joke around like that.

He made it eight months, you know. But and that ultimately was the end, you know, because at one point, as everyone kept leaving the band, I looked at her and I said, hey, man, you ever leave this band? That's it, dude. I'm not doing this band without you. You know, and that was probably around the time that Eddie left. I was like, I can't like I'm not going to do this band without you. You know, Eddie wasn't in the band. I can't do that band. Ernie's the one that's Ernie started the band.

You know, it just it to me at that moment wouldn't have been right, you know. So, uh, so then he got sick and he, he fought this cancer thing. And, and, you know, um, they told him based on where the cancer was. I mean, it was everywhere in his organs, man. And they, they just told him, they said, Hey, you know, there's nothing we can do for you. And, uh, they said, don't, you know, you could do radiation or you could do chemo.

Actually, they said you could do chemo, but you're going to be miserable and you might get an extra six months. And so he said, fuck it. And he didn't do anything. And they gave him some morphine patches because the pain got really bad. And he just kept saying, if it keeps hurting, put on another morphine patch, put on another morphine patch. And he just rode that shit out, man. I mean, he was hard, dude. He was hard, man. I mean, he just kept doing what he could do until he couldn't anymore.

And that was it. But yeah, and that became the end of the band, man. That was December 16th of 2004. That's when... Powerhouse ended, you know, and we did we did a memorial show after that, which helped pay for his headstone. And then we we we ended up doing another memorial show about five years later that Ian McFarlane actually filmed. And we have film of it. And we actually, you know, I ended up singing for Doomsday Device, which was Ernie's other band. And that band was dope.

That band is so good. And the later songs that never got released were so good. and part of my inspiration at that point was to try to just keep that band out there and so we did this kind of combo powerhouse doomsday um show and to play those songs just just so they didn't get forgotten and and record them and at some point i do hope we can still get that out there because um it was like a five camera shoot. Michael Rosen, I mean, insane engineer came and recorded it for us.

The recording's great. The video's great. You know, we, we got to interview people about Ernie. Like I just gotta, I just gotta get back around to it, you know, but that's out there too, to, to, to get out there. I mean, the most important thing to me now is just keeping Ernie's name out there, man. I mean, he was, like you said, he was a character, man, a certain people, man, that really, truly like, um, like mean something to everyone.

You know, he was one of those people that just like, he was bigger than life. And so when he, when he died, a lot of people were just kind of like lost myself included, you know, I was, I was truly lost, man. You know, we, we created something with powerhouse, you know, it, it kind of was more, it wasn't just being a band. It was, it was actually more of a movement. And so, Ernie was my bandmate. Ernie was like my brother.

Ernie was my business partner because we did actually have a tattoo shop together. And so when he died, everything that I had come to know myself as stopped existing, man, because we were so intertwined. And yeah, it got really weird for a long time, man. I was in a pretty, pretty bad space for a long time, man. I couldn't get out of it because I felt nothing seemed recognizable anymore.

You're just tripping. And At 38 years old, I finally found out that, no, I wasn't tripping. I was right. Like, no, there was something really fucked up. But because I grew up that way, because I was always told, it's like, no, it's you, it's you, it's you. I always learned that I had to look. I can only look inside. I couldn't reach out to others for help. But when it's like that, it takes a long time, man. And so for real, I was just like stuck inside myself for a really, really long time, man.

a really long time because I felt like I had to figure it out on my own. I felt like I was on an island. I really did, you know, because at that point, and I kind of, I kind of was, things started to splinter even within my family.

There was some rifts in my family, you know, when it came to me and my brother and, you know, and the, you know, friendships and, you know, the band, like everything, everything just like, it just was like a massive explosion and everything just flew everywhere, you know?

So I worked for Rancid and I worked for the old firm Casuals and I worked for Madball. I've done some One Wealth stuff for Agnostic Front. I've been offered other things too, but I was more interested in working with the people that I love, like my friends. So I kind of was... pretty choosy about stuff. I wasn't just looking for a gig because I had a job here. I could make money here all day. You know, that's not a problem.

So, but that's kind of, that's some of the stuff that kind of kept me going a little bit. But, you know, I mean, the big news is, is that actually we've been playing again. We've actually even been writing new music. So, you know, what once was will be again, you know?

But he, for the longest time, it was one of those things where If I were going to stand on stage, I always knew when I'd look to my left, you know, most of the times left, Ernie was going to be standing there. And it's like, well, and being the personality that he was, who the fuck could fill his shoes? Like who the fuck could fill his shoes? And the answer is no one. No one could ever be Ernie. That's the truth of the matter.

I mean, his personality, his songwriting, just the way he embraced life. I mean, he lived life so full. Like, it was crazy. Like, I admired him for the way he could live life because every day was just, like, meant to be a massive party and celebration. Like, that's just how he lived it. And it was a pretty awesome way to be, man. I mean, for the short amount of time that he had, he did it right. But again, how, how, how do I stand on stage with someone else?

Like who's going to be the right guy? Well, you know, I've known Casey for a long time now. And Casey's a, he's a great guitar player, but he turns out to be a really awesome bass player too. And there's things that are familiar about, you know, Casey, like it, Casey is not Ernie and Ernie would, would have never been Casey, but there's familiar things about Casey that makes it feel right to me. And, and, and in that, I can be okay with like doing this again.

Cause I feel like, you know, I realized that, you know, by not doing the band, I'm not keeping Ernie out there. Like we're not, we're not doing him, you know, I'm doing him a disservice by not doing the band. Like I don't want people to forget about him. I don't want people to forget what an awesome person he was or, or the, the, the musicianship, the, the, the, you know, the bass player just did everything that he brought. to the world that I knew at least.

And a lot of other people that knew him. If you knew Ernie, I mean, you just, I wish I could explain it better. It's just, he was one of those people, man, like, you know, irreplaceable. But Casey gives me enough familiarity where I can say, okay, I can do this, you know?

And they were really good for what they did, but they weren't necessarily part of like a hardcore scene. You know, I mean, metal was king here, thrash metal. I mean, we're talking, this is like ground zero thrash metal, you know? That's what was the big deal. And that's kind of what was still going on in the early 90s. And so we literally... And then what was being claimed as hardcore was like Screw 32 and Good Riddance and AFI and all that. And that was cool.

They were doing their thing, but they were more melodic and more punky kind of hardcore. And that was cool too, but we weren't really accepted in those circles. And And, and that's kind of how the OBHC thing spawned is that, you know, they were all claiming this East Bay hardcore thing. That was what they did. And we weren't really welcoming that. And I can understand. I mean, Ernie was an intimidating guy. He looked forward to knocking somebody out on a regular basis.

I watched him do it a million times and more times than not, he would laugh after he did it, you know? And so I can understand why people might be leery hanging around him. You know, he, he, he definitely had, we all had a reputation, you know? Um, He particularly. But we all had a reputation. The band had a reputation. And we weren't embraced by the East Bay hardcore scene. And I was like, our boy Lil Kev, his dad had an embroidery shop in Alameda. And I was like, well, fuck.

I mean, the X and the hardcore, how do we fucking do this? And I was like, well, we're an Oakland band. I said, we... our shit, our brand, this is our brand. We are Oakland brand hardcore. This is what we do. And we just started claiming Oakland. And then it was, it was like, you guys have your East Bay shit and whatever, but we're going to be Oakland. And this is us. And a lot of people rallied around that, you know, and that kind of, that's kind of what stuck, man.

And it wasn't an intentional thing. It just kind of happened. You know, it was just kind of like, I want this cool thing on a hat. No, I got to put something on there. Oh, BHC. Okay. That'll work. You know? And, uh, Cause I felt like Oakland, California, hardcore OCHC would look weird on a hat. So it just ended up being this B, you know, Oakland brand hardcore and people embraced it, man. And it's stuck. And you know, I, when I promote shows still, it's cool, man.

I mean, I never really thought about it that way, but kids will come up and say, Hey man, thank you for what you did. And I'm like, Oh, I didn't really feel like I did that much, but I mean, I'm, I, I'm flattered to know that for some people that what we did mattered that much. I mean, it's, it's, it's nice to hear, man, you know, it's, it's cool. And, and, you know, there's a scene here now and it keeps going and it's cool.

And I'm psyched to hopefully, you know, really, truly be back a part of it as a band, you know, but yeah, I mean, I, I, you know, I guess we kind of get dubbed with that, you know, you know, the founding father kind of shit of the area, I guess. I don't know. I don't know, you know,

We'd go out on tours and the shows would be cool. But our favorite part was being in the van, talking shit and wherever we were heading next. And it was just being together. Like we truly loved being together. So, and I guess people felt that, I mean, maybe that's what it is. I don't know.