 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Blacklisted is one of the best hardcore bands to come out in recent years. Their music is so fast and aggressive and overall wonderful, with "And the Beat Goes On" cracking into my Top 5 albums of 2005. This interview was conducted with vocalist George on March 16, 2006 at The Living Room in Providence, RI.
PL: State your name.
BL: My name is George.
PL: What makes for better promotion: constant touring or positive press?
BL: Probably constant touring, I guess. I'd like to think constant touring because I wish people would just figure things out for themselves, so constant touring.
PL: Does it seem like music fans have a hard time differentiating the music a band plays from the individual band members themselves?
BL: Sometimes I think people look more into stuff than they should. Its music, and they should just take it for that, but they'll judge a band on a member or something like that instead of being like: "This band is good, who cares what that person does in their life."
PL: Why do you think hardcore has remained a popular genre of music for the past 20+ years?
BL: Probably because of its honesty, but even that gets watered down. A lot of people try to use hardcore as a stepping stone, but pretty much the true hardcore bands are always the most honest, so I'd say that. Its less cut throat because you do things on your own terms instead of having so and so do it for you and he cuts out the middle man, then you get fucked.
PL: Whats one thing you would take with you to make touring more fun?
BL: I would just take all my friends if I could. It sucks when you tour so much you start to lose all the friends you had because you're gone. When you do come home, they totally forget about calling you because you haven't been home in six months.
PL: If you had to eat a 14 ounce box of cereal in an hour and a half, which would you choose and why?
BL: Frosted Flakes. I'm a big cereal-thats like the main thing I eat. I would just eat that. Its my favorite cereal.
PL: Whats one movie everyone should see?
BL: "Shawshank Redemption."
PL: Whats a little known fact about Deathwish Inc.?
BL: Probably that its just a normal office and not a cave with skulls and Jake with a pitchfork. Its just a normal place.
PL: Name one album, besides your own, you think all kids should have in their collection.
BL: Out right now?
PL: No, any album.
BL: The easy answer would be Age of Quarrel by Cro Mags, but I don't know. I'd pick a record now. I'd say Rise & Fall's Oblivian record, or any of their records. They're a band from Belguim and we're about to do a tour with them. I just think that they're good. They have the Cleveland sound and they do it real well.
PL: Do you want to say anything about your band?
BL: About Blacklisted?
PL: Yeah.
BL: I hope people check us out. We just play hardcore music.
PL: Do you have any final comments?
BL: Um...no, not really. I guess people should check out Rise & Fall, and all the Deathwish releases. Just support hardcore, and not bands that are hardcore bands trying to break into the mainstream, just real actual hardcore bands.
Interview by: RF