DAN BITTER END INTERVIEW.

Bitter end is one of the best band right right now if you don't know them wake the fuck up.- Tremblay.

What's up Dan? What's good? How's life in Texas?

Right Now I'm stressing on the end of the school semester and getting everything set for our winter tours coming up. I'm doing alright. My life could be a lot worse that is for sure. Texas is Texas, I have a love/hate relationship with this place.

Did you grow up in the lone star sate? How was it? Any good redneck stories?

I was born in New Orleans, but I grew up on the edge of San Antonio. I've definitely encountered my fair share of rednecks during my life. Unfortunately I can't think of any crazy stories off the top off my head. I will tell you about a dude who some might consider a "redneck", but he is one of my favorite people I've come across. There is a dude named Spider Mike from San Antonio who grew up a skater kid listening to hardcore/punk/metal in the 1980s. I'm kind of bummed cause he just moved out of town, but that is beside the point. He saw all the classic bands and sold the last of his records to me earlier this year. The dude has amazing stories. Anyway, now a days he is in his 40's and dresses in cowboy boots, skin tight jeans, and usually wears a cowboy hat and has an insane country accent. He mainly listens to Hank William and Celtic Frost now, but if you saw him walking down the street you would probably peg him as a redneck. A few months ago, before he moved, he showed up to a bitter end show in snake skin cowboy boots, cowboy hat with an upside down cross on the front, skin tight jeans, fake black fur coat, and a bullet belt. Needless to say he was best dude at the show, and when he hung out with me behind our merch table no one knew what the fuck to think.

How did you get involved in music in the first place? How did you discover Punk, Hardcore & Metal music? What was the first show you saw?

Since I can remember I've always loved music, but I didn't come out of the womb in a Cro Mags shirts. I've listened to some crappy music in my day, but I got into underground hardcore/punk/metal when I was 13. The first "hardcore" show I went to was October 29, 1999. The line up was Sick Of It All, AFI, Hot Water Music, and Indecision. I was 2 days away from turning 14.

Cro Mags: Best intro? Dance part? Lyrics? Shirt? Best Whishes or Alpha Omega? What do you think about the whole deal with JJ & Harley?

Best Intro: I'll stick with "We Gotta Know."
Best Dance Park: I would love to smash people while watching them play "Crush the Demoniac."
Best Lyrics: Seekers of the Truth
Best Wishes or Alpha Omega? Alpha Omega is a good record, but Best Wishes is better, even if JJ is not on it.
JJ and Harley are both maniacs in their own way. I have no idea what to think about that whole situation.


Where did you get that Dmize shirt?

Unexpectedly, I got it from someone in Germany. I didn't ask how they got it. That is one of my favorite shirts. Dmize was so good. I just learned that an unreleased Dmize recording session exists. That needs to see the light of day.


Favorite Wnyu Live sets?

There was an NYHC band from late 80's called At All Cost. They did a WNYU set and two demos. I like all the classic WNYU sets like Supertouch, Warzone, Altercation, etc... but I especially love the At All Cost set just because they were so fucking good, and I only know one other person who even has the recording besides myself. I can not figure out what was in the water in New York from 1981-1995. Even the most obscure of bands are usually awesome. At All Cost is a perfect example. If anyone knows anything about At All Cost or owns a copy of the 1st demo (I have the second), please get in touch.

You've filled in on vocals for Will To Live on tour. How was it?

Will To Live and Strength For A Reason had a week of shows booked, and their real singer Rob wasn't going to be able to do the dates. I was around, and they asked me to do some shows with them. If you've ever heard Will To Live, Rob's vocals are way different than mine, but everything worked out ok. I had a good time playing some shows with my friends.


What do you think about the whole Bin Laden/Bush war case?


The whole thing is a mess. Bin Laden is a pathetic madman, and Bush is almost as bad. I could go on, but really what is the point? Everyone with common sense knows that it will take a miracle for the majority of this generation of humanity to die from old age.


Was Bitter End your first band? Where did you get the name? Who was in the band at the beginning? Did you have a lot of line up changes? Who's playing in the band right now? Who's writting the music? What are your main influences? Where did you get the inspiration for the lyrics? How's the reaction for Climate of Fear? Are you satisfied with everything? Where did you guys get the idea for the samplers in the intro? Who did the artwork? Best tour so far? How was the show with Obituary? Who did the artwork? Are you stoked for Europe? What's your ultimate goal with Bitter End? How's the collaboration with Deathwish and Malfunction?

I 've only been in two other bands that played shows before Bitter End. When I was 16 I sang for a band called Now Or Never that sounded kind of similar to Strife. We played two shows and broke up. After that I was in a generic hatebreed-esque band that played around Texas for a couple of years. We recorded two demos, went through some member changes, and eventually morphed into Bitter End.
Bitter End started out with myself on vocals, Griff and Jacob on guitar, Ely on drums, and I think Matt Jackson from Iron Age was filling in on bass in the beginning. After Matt Jackson we got Matt Davidson on bass who recorded the "Mind In Chains" e.p. with us, and left soon afterwards. We went through another bass player, and now have Jason Wallace, who was in Far From Breaking playing bass. We all collaborate on the music, but I can't play an instrument so I just hum ideas sometimes.
As far as influences go, we all listen to lots of different music but when writing “Climate of Fear” we were listening to a lot of Life of Agony, Leeway, Biohazard, Cro Mags, Sick of It All, Icemen, Agnostic Front, etc… basically all the bands we get compared to. Personally I was on a big trash metal kick when we were writing “Climate of Fear” so that may have had some influence on the vocals. The inspiration for the lyrics came from a lot of different places, but the concept of “fear” and how it affects myself and people around me is an underlying theme throughout the whole record lyrically. There are only a couple of songs that you can read the lyrics to and know they are about fear, but if I were to specifically tell you what each song was about you would understand how the song relates to fear in one way or another.
The reaction to the the album has been awesome. We have been getting a lot more people outside of the United States contacting the band, and our shows around the U.S. have gotten noticeably better. Deathwish / Malfunction records have done a great job at promoting the record. I’ve also read a few really complimentary reviews which is always good.
I can’t remember who suggested putting some news clips in intro, but it worked out great, and only added to the power of the intro. We came in with a rough recording of some sound clips and Craig Douglas, the guy who produced/recorded the lp was able to work everything in perfectly with the music.
For the cover of the album we wanted something simple and bold. Linas Garsys, who is known for crazy detailed drawings took our suggestions and came up with the cover for “Climate of Fear.” Some people have said the cover is too plain, but I personally wanted it that way.
When I think back on the tours we’ve done, they all seem to run together. We’ve been lucky enough to tour with some of the best bands in hardcore. Touring this summer with The Mongoloids and Bracewar was a good time. Personally, I like the tours we’ve done with Shipwreck just cause we are good friends with those guys.

How's the scene in TX right now? Any bands that the peeps should check?

Texas is cool and has some good bands. We just got done playing some shows with our friend in Feed. They aren’t really a hardcore band, but they are all grew up in the hardcore scene. If you are into early Helmet, and bands like Unsane check them out. I like this band called On My Side from Houston. They play old school positive straight edge hardcore, but have been writing some shit that reminds me of Supertouch.

What do you think about the Youth crew era?

I like all kinds of music, and I like all kinds of hardcore. I’ll always have a soft spot for bands like Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, and Bold just cause those are some of the bands that I listened to when I was first getting into hardcore. Youth of Today got me through a lot of tough times in high school. Even though I probably listen to Biohazard more than YOT at this point in my life, all those youth crew era bands will always be important to me. They were the first bands that turned me onto a non self destructive lifestyle.

Best Nyhc era? Why? Top 10 albums?

This is quite a question you have posed. NYHC had many great eras. I like all the early 80s bands, I like the mid and late 80s stuff, and I even like the cheesy 90s thug core stuff. I guess I’m going to go with NYHC 1986-1989 as my favorite. The amount of great new york hard music produced in the time period is insane. If I were to make a list of every New York band I listen to on a somewhat regular basism most were at their peak during those 3 years.

Choosing my top 10 NYHC records is simply impossible. As soon as I type out the list, I’ll probably realize I forgot something. Here goes nothing…

(In No Particular Order )

Cro Mags “Age of Quarrel”
Killing Time “Brightside”
Antidote “thou shalt not kill”
Sick Of It All “just look around”
Biohazard “s/t”
Sheer Terror “just can’t hate enough”
Agnostic Front “victim in pain”
WarZone “don’t forget the struggle”
Straight Ahead “spirit of youth”
H2o “s/t”


Favorite Zine, past and present?

In Effect (past), and there have been some cool zines in recent years but nothing that I’ve collected every issue of. Town of Hardcore is pretty cool.

Any last words, comments or shout-outs?

“dance hard or die” – you can thank raybeez for that advice.

DEATHWISHINC

BITTER END