It is taken from Bridge Nine Records’ accompanying covers compilation for the restored version of ‘xXx Fanzine (1983-88) Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties’.

The 12″ compilation features the likes of letlive., The Riverboat Gamblers and more covering songs from that era in hardcore/punk. The collection itself is comprised of articles, reviews and photographs from the Boston based 80’s hardcore/punk zine. It not only restores such articles from that era, but also comes with a “then and now” perspective i.e. re-interviewing the bands who were originally interviewed in the document, including Ian MacKaye, Keith Morris, members of Agnostic Front, Bad Brains and Cro-Mags.

The full tracklisting is as follows:

1. Strife – Who Are You? (Void)
2. Done Dying – Blending In (Government Issue)
3. Letlive – Fix Me (Black Flag)
4. Trial – Money (Embrace)
5. H2O – Safe (Dag Nasty)
6. Nomads – How When Where / The Eliminator (Cruxifix / Agnostic Front)
7. Walter Schriefels – Society Suckers (Agnostic Front)
8. Tombs – Kiss Of Steel (Samhain)
9. Voivod – Man In The Trees (Die Kreuzen)
10. Aeges – Hungry Child (Corrosion Of Conformity)
11. Last Light – A Wish To Dream (Uniform Choice)
12. Fuck You Pay Me – Religious Wars (Subhumans)
13. Jesse Leech – Salad Days (Minor Threat)
14. Shai Hulud – Raw Power (Raw Power)
15. True Rivals – Coolidge (Descendents)
16. Fu Manchu – When The Shit Hits The Fan (Circle Jerks)
17. Gallows – The Possibility Of Life’s Destruction (Discharge)
18. American Nightmare – It’s The Limit (Cro-Mags)
19. Riverboat Gamblers – Hate The Police (The Dicks)

It is taken from Bridge Nine Records’ accompanying covers compilation for the restored version of ‘xXx Fanzine (1983-88) Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties’.

The 12″ compilation features the likes of letlive., The Riverboat Gamblers and more covering songs from that era in hardcore/punk. The collection itself is comprised of articles, reviews and photographs from the Boston based 80’s hardcore/punk zine. It not only restores such articles from that era, but also comes with a “then and now” perspective i.e. re-interviewing the bands who were originally interviewed in the document, including Ian MacKaye, Keith Morris, members of Agnostic Front, Bad Brains and Cro-Mags.

The full tracklisting is as follows:

1. Strife – Who Are You? (Void)
2. Done Dying – Blending In (Government Issue)
3. Letlive – Fix Me (Black Flag)
4. Trial – Money (Embrace)
5. H2O – Safe (Dag Nasty)
6. Nomads – How When Where / The Eliminator (Cruxifix / Agnostic Front)
7. Walter Schriefels – Society Suckers (Agnostic Front)
8. Tombs – Kiss Of Steel (Samhain)
9. Voivod – Man In The Trees (Die Kreuzen)
10. Aeges – Hungry Child (Corrosion Of Conformity)
11. Last Light – A Wish To Dream (Uniform Choice)
12. Fuck You Pay Me – Religious Wars (Subhumans)
13. Jesse Leech – Salad Days (Minor Threat)
14. Shai Hulud – Raw Power (Raw Power)
15. True Rivals – Coolidge (Descendents)
16. Fu Manchu – When The Shit Hits The Fan (Circle Jerks)
17. Gallows – The Possibility Of Life’s Destruction (Discharge)
18. American Nightmare – It’s The Limit (Cro-Mags)
19. Riverboat Gamblers – Hate The Police (The Dicks)

The 12″ compilation features the likes of Strife, letlive., The Riverboat Gamblers and more covering songs from that era in hardcore/punk. The collection itself is comprised of articles, reviews and photographs from the Boston based 80’s hardcore/punk zine. It not only restores such articles from that era, but also comes with a “then and now” perspective i.e. re-interviewing the bands who were originally interviewed in the document, including Ian MacKaye, Keith Morris, members of Agnostic Front, Bad Brains and Cro-Mags.

To coincide with the reveal, LA band Nomads have shared their two cover song rendition of Crucifix’s ‘How, When, Where’ and Agnostic Front’s ‘The Eliminator’ via Decibel Magazine.

The full tracklisting is as follows:

1. Strife – Who Are You? (Void)
2. Done Dying – Blending In (Government Issue)
3. Letlive – Fix Me (Black Flag)
4. Trial – Money (Embrace)
5. H2O – Safe (Dag Nasty)
6. Nomads – How When Where / The Eliminator (Cruxifix / Agnostic Front)
7. Walter Schriefels – Society Suckers (Agnostic Front)
8. Tombs – Kiss Of Steel (Samhain)
9. Voivod – Man In The Trees (Die Kreuzen)
10. Aeges – Hungry Child (Corrosion Of Conformity)
11. Last Light – A Wish To Dream (Uniform Choice)
12. Fuck You Pay Me – Religious Wars (Subhumans)
13. Jesse Leech – Salad Days (Minor Threat)
14. Shai Hulud – Raw Power (Raw Power)
15. True Rivals – Coolidge (Descendents)
16. Fu Manchu – When The Shit Hits The Fan (Circle Jerks)
17. Gallows – The Possibility Of Life’s Destruction (Discharge)
18. American Nightmare – It’s The Limit (Cro-Mags)
19. Riverboat Gamblers – Hate The Police (The Dicks)

When talking about youth crew hardcore, post-hardcore or alternative-rock, it would be near impossible not to mention the name of Walter Schreifels. Having spent time in Gorilla Biscuits, Warzone, Youth Of Today, Quicksand, Rival Schools and more, Schreifels has been a mainstay in the music world for nearly 30 years now and shows no signs of slowing down yet. Now he is back once again with his latest offering, the ‘punk rock supergroup’ Vanishing Life, who also feature members of …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead and Rise Against among their ranks. I was lucky enough to have a transatlantic phone conversation with Walter to talk about Vanishing Life, managing so many projects and pushing the boundaries of hardcore.

So firstly, how did Vanishing Life come about?

We were at Groezrock and Autry from Trail of Dead was brainstorming the idea of doing this awesome band, so I said “Cool”, and you know when people say things you sometimes think it’s not going to happen? Well then the tape went around and I was like, “Cool, so this is actually happening”. I got on Garageband and put my parts to it, then Geoff from Thursday said he was starting a label (Collect Records), and initially was going to be a part of the band but opted to release it instead.

I understand you played guitar on the recording, but will be just singing live, are you looking forward to this?

Yeah that was the idea, I just wanted to do that from the start, then the songwriting took another shape and I wanted to challenge myself. I love playing guitar, but I’m also excited about the freedom of not playing guitar in a band, and not having to be a part of the song writing as the band didn’t start with me. I think that’s what makes the song writing quite exceptional in that way.

How was the recording process for you?

It was great, we got together in California as that seemed to be the most convenient place as we are from all over, and a friend of mine there offered to record us so we just went in and jammed the songs out. All the guys are awesome musicians so it was a great experience.

You have a storied history within hardcore and punk, and with the sound Vanishing Life has, how much of an influence did your background play in the writing?

Hardcore to me is the most enduring genre outside of probably hip hop to come out of the US. Its highly influential and unsullied, although sometimes now it’s pinning itself into a corner. What I’m trying to do is take from that, and maybe paint outside of that corner and expand the boundaries of it, not resisting other elements.

Is the 7” a one off project, or can we expect to see more releases from Vanishing Life?

Yeah, we want to do as much as we can. We have some more songs that are just as good, if not better than the two on the 7″, and I want to play live so we need more songs of course. We are doing an in-store in a record shop for our first show. It’s not a big deal and it’s just going to be fun. But yeah, we are on the case and it’s pretty exciting.

Obviously you are a family man now and still a prolific musician. How do you find the balance between normal life and juggling so many projects?

I guess by virtue all the projects are interesting for different reasons, which means I’m able to maintain a longer arc. This new one came out of nowhere and as with all of the projects I’m involved in everyone also has different things going on, and some of my projects aren’t as active as others. I guess I just need to make sure I am in constant touch with everyone, constantly on top of emails and calls, and being organised.

Records you have released – such as ‘Slip’ with Quicksand and ‘Start Today’ with Gorilla Biscuits – are highly influential in their respective scenes. Do you feel you have a legacy to live up to, or people expect certain things from you when you announce a new release?

I try to separate myself from any kind of legacy because it is just that: each project is separate from the other. It’s cool that people recognise the work I’ve done before, because otherwise it may slow down. People aren’t going to like everything I do, and some will be attached to some projects, and some attached to others, and that’s cool, but it’s all part of the same thing. I just try not to get caught up in it, and I just feel very lucky that, as I said before, my story has a long arc.

Thanks for taking the time to speak to us today Walter. Any final words?

Just what up UK! Hopefully we can get over there with Vanishing Life soon, but we will definitely be there. I don’t get to come there as much now, and it’s been a minute, so yeah, we will see you soon.

‘People Running’ by Vanishing Life is available to pre-order from Collect Records now, and is out October 13th.

GLEN BUSHELL

Paul: 

Why has it taken so long to do a ‘proper’ solo project?
Walter: It took me a while to feel confident performing solo and under my own name. It’s also been an adjustment not being in a band, having that kind of feedback and comaroderie to fall back on. I’d gotten used to having that. To stay creative I needed to change the format and put the weight of it on my shoulders, which meant finding new ways of achieving the sound in my head. It’s taken longer than I had hoped but I’m really happy with end result.

Paul: Why call the record ‘An Open Letter To The Scene’?
Walter: I think it sounds inviting. People are always looking for a scene, punk, hardcore, college, marriage, parenthood and it’s nice to be invited, it’s “open”. Because it’s me it implies I’m talking about the hardcore scene and I am but not so specifically. I also think the song Open Letter was a strong place to build the foundation for the record.

Paul: What experiences and incidents have inspired your new solo work? Are  
there any artists you draw influence from as part of the writing  
process?
Walter: I’ve definitely done my fair amount of name checking on this album, from Arthur Lee to Evan Biohazard. The people I am close with have all taught me something, made me laugh, made me mad, broke my heart, made my day. I draw from those experiences. I’m a fan and I’ve tried to emulate some of my heroes, I think that’s a nice thing to do when done with stealth and heart.

Paul: What’s the difference between your solo work and Walking Concert?
Walter: I came up in the hardcore scene and have followed on from there, after a while I spun so far from that point I could barely see it anymore until I realized it was just over my shoulder again. With Walking Concert I made a break with the style I had developed through Quicksand and Rival Schools and that felt right. With this album I wanted to break with the idea of being in a band anymore to gain something new.

Paul: 

How did you hook up with Big Scary Monsters?
Walter: I met Kevin through Sam Duckworth, who really introduced me to the entire UK DIY scene as I know it these days. Kevin had asked about putting out my record for years and I told him I’d reach out when I had something. I was living in Berlin then, it took me a while to get it together but I think it’s kind of poetic to be working together.



Paul: Do you find it strange that there’s probably an entire generation of  
kids that have never heard of Quicksand or Gorilla Biscuits? Are there  
any ‘current’ bands you feel are relevant and will have a lasting  
impact in the same way those bands did at the time and still influence  
bands even now?
Walter: I’m sure there are lots of current bands that will have lasting impact and continued influence, though “staying power” has never been at a higher premium. There’s so much to sift through on the internet that people/blogs/whatever go through artists at an alarming speedy rate, there’s more great little bands that get noticed and hyped quickly but disappear before they can really develop.

Paul: A couple of Rival Schools questions if that’s OK.  The second official  
Rival Schools album seems to have been on the horizon for many, many  
years with rumours of albums being finished, re-recorded, scrapped and  
who knows what else. To set the record straight, what happened from  
starting work on it in 2002-ish to actually completing it?
Walter: After touring on United By Fate I think we were pretty burned out. I regret that we didn’t push through that in a way but we’ve done other things that were equally important to us in that time, all the while leaving it open to get back at it. There’s been a few periods of activity over the years but we’ve really focused this past year and got an album finished that I’m very happy with. I think it all could have been a lot easier but knowing that now makes me feel excited to play these new songs and eager to follow up this record a lot sooner.

Paul: 

Were you pissed off that a bunch of songs leaked in about 2003? Were  
they ever meant to see the light of day?
Walter: I’m not pissed. Over the years I’ve learned to accept that nothing is precious in the world of music. Once it’s done, it’s out there. Was I happy about it? No, and that’s mainly because the songs that leaked were not complete in my mind, they were demos but in the end it was something for the fans and that’s good.

Paul: 
After being away from the UK for a few years as a full band, how did  
you find last year’s festival dates? Were you surprised with the  
reaction?
Walter: It was wonderful. I would have preferred to have the new album out but it was awesome to feel so connected to the audience in a festival setting and the new songs we played were well received.



Paul: When can we expect Rival Schools to return to the UK on tour?
Walter: Yes, definitely

.

Paul: Do you have any intention to produce anything new in the near future?
Walter: I definitely enjoy producing and I always learn something but in general I prefer to work on my own music. The projects that have come along have all happened very naturally and that’s been great.

Paul: 
If you could work with anyone, who would it be and why?
Walter: That’s an interesting question. There’s lots of people I’d like to work with because I’m a fan of their music but when I’m producing I like to think that I could somehow elevate the process by being there. As a challenge, I’d like to produce a Zack De La Rocha solo album. It seems that that’s what he’s wanted to do for a very long time and has gone through every cool DJ and producer under the sun with little to show for it. I’d like to be the guy to finally get it out of him.