NJ Bloodline
Tell us the background/history of NJB?
Well, NJBL started in early 1992. NJBloodline is Wreak (24 vocals), Frank (28 guitar), Joey (25 bass), Ian (19 drums). I met Mario (the original guitarist) in High School and he mentioned one day that he wished to start a hardcore band with his brother Tony on drums. He knew that I was into the scene and asked me if I possibly knew of a bassist or maybe even another guitarist. I introduced him to a friend of mine who was a pretty good guitar player named Jim, and they decided to get together and jam so I took the ride with Jim. They decided on a few cover tunes by The Cro-Mags, Leeway, Killing Time, etc… So Jim asked me to sing since I knew the words to just about all of the songs, and it sounded pretty fucking good.
At least good enough that they decided to jam again, and asked me to keep singing; so after a few weeks we started on our first song and 9 months later we played our first show at Studio-1, in Newark, NJ with Biohazzard, our friends Dog Eat Dog, and Enrage. After a few years certain personnal issues caused members to leave and as you may have noticed I’m the only one left out of the names I mentioned before. But the core of the band (namely Ian, Joey, Frank, and myself) has been together for almost 5 years now and is going very strong.
Is the New Jersey in your name to distinguish you from another Bloodline or are you just proud to be from NJ?
When we played our first show we were just plain Bloodline (I wrote a song called Bloodline, and we trashed the song but we liked the name.), I soon got news of 5 or 6 other bands with the same name, so NjBloodline it was. I thought the name stuck out like sore thumb, a little like our music, so it was perfect.
You play a your own brand of hardcore, how would you describe yourselves to those people that haven’t heard your music?
Well I find myself doing that all of the time, especially people who aren’t even remotely into punk, hardcore, or metal at all. I’d say to someone like that, “It’s hard, but listen for the groove.”, and it’s crazy because these people that you would never expect to like this type of music are all of a sudden lifting weights, jogging, and kickboxing to it (LOL!). And the reason they give me is that they get pissed! So what can I say to someone who is familiar with this kind of stuff? Yeah, we’re hard, groovy, angry, whatever but listen to whats going on. We try to write songs, not just make people slam, that’s optional ( preferred, but optional).
Your lyrics are very aggressive and negative where do you get your inspiration from?
What’s so negative about being angry? I lived alot of these songs, they are about what made me who I am, they’re what I see on the news, and what I see day to day; those are things I feel that I have to dicuss in an aggressive manner. Words don’t have to be pretty ones to bring about a positive outcome.
What’s your vision of the future of the world?
I think humanity is doomed in a sense we’ve denied ourselves the full benefit of evolution in order to give ourselves certain comforts and vanities. Now we have to return to a simpler more natural way if we wish to continue, but do we even have enough time before our ecosystem takes it out on us. It’s interesting though because we’re at a place in time where we are actually more aware of our surroundings and of our potential. I guess we’ll just have to wait.
My favourite song on the ‘Be Afraid’ is ‘a love song’, where did the inspiration for that song come from?
I was involved in a long term relationship that ended badly and it really took alot out of me. I was actually considering marriage and quitting the band at the time. Well, the breakup happenned and a few weeks later I started seeing visions of the girl lying in a pool of her own blood (coming from her neck and her cunt), with 2 roses twined around her neck (It might have been the Jack Daniels doing the thinking.), in a police chalkline. It was such an eerie beautiful sight, and I wish I were an artist so that I could paint it. The lyrics to “A Love Song” are words that came to mind.¬†
Whats the experience that has affected you most, both as a band and indiviual?
As a band composed of 4 distinct people, we are greatly affected by so many things at once that influence us. What happens to one affects all, we are a unit, and thats how a team works. We got a slap in the face about a year ago when my friend Mark McCorkle (a.k.a. Uncle Mark) died in a car crash. Mark was always like a silent member of NJBL since the very beginning. Losing him was a huge shock to us and to the entire NJ scene as well. It was a growing experience though.
Realizing that Mark was really gone was hard, NJBL had lost one of it’s most trusted and dedicated soldiers and on top of that the scene from which we came was and still is fading fast. So what does it leave for us now? Another of our friends has passed on, the clubs where we felt safe are all closed, and out of a booming NJHC scene in the early to late 90’s there is only NJBloodline left to carry the torch. All of these things have affected us and as depressing as it may be, now we are driven by a sense of duty. “It’s what keeps me going, you’d have to kil me first!”
Who would you most like to take on tour, and open up for?
We just got off a 10 day excursion with a band from Chicago called Synnecrosis, and those guys were alot of fun to tour with. We’d like to take anyone willing to drive though because we’d plan on being all fucked up (HA-HA-HA!) I’d love to tour with our friends E-Town Concrete anytime, as well as the Hoods, Cold As LIfe, and any of many others (too many to name). But seriously come on now, who in their right mind would say any names other than Slayer and Murphy’s Law?
Whats the NJ scene like, do you fit in?
Well the NJ scene at one time was very cool. Different types of bands would play together all of the time. I enjoyed played out back then because everyone had their own distincnt style. Lately there are too many subdivisions and too many of the bands in those little insignificant cliques sound alike. Not to mention that for some reason I sense a certain air of competition among the bands. Being played on local radio show and acting tough is more important than the actual quality of the music in the NJ scene nowadays.
What 3 bands/albums are your favourites and why?
In everything I listen to I find how it relates to me and how it makes me feel. Whether I see myself slam dancing and going absolutely postal, or just hanging out on the beach sipping a margarita. Music has that effect on me.
Bad Brains, “I Against I”, was the first album I ever bought and it has an almost transient effect on me. Even though there alot of hard driving riffs on that album, HR’s voice makes me forget about the struggles we face and makes me look forward to reaching the goals which we fight for in everyday life.
Cro-Mags, “The Age of Quarrel”, pure testosterone, pure adrenaline, pure aggression, pure anguish and disgust, to realise on the dance floor among your friends or in the streets against your mortal enemy.
Sheer Terror, “Just Can’t Hate Enough”, aggression and heavy music with sarcastic and abstract lyrics. The only bad thing about this record is that it ends.
But there must be a fourth as well.
Darkside NYC, “Ambitions Make Way For Dread”, Drakside was the perfect NYC band, heavy as fuck, angry as hell! We got to play with them once, it ruled. Every time I saw them play, I altogether lost it. They were by far my favorite band, R.I.P.
The final words are yours
Well first off, I want to thank Shay for asking us to do this interview. “Thanks Shay!” Watch out for our upcoming full length to be released on Kingfisher Records, hopefully in October. Right now we’re planning a European tour for May of 2001 with our friends from Germany, ‘Settle the Score’. Also in October watch for a 3 way split CD featuring us, the Hoods, and Settle the Score available from On the Rise and Coretex Records.
Big up to everyone who suppurts the hardcore scene and underground music worldwide, but especially: Chris Rykers, King Fisher Records. Alain and RPP, Oli Lung, Pete and Settle the Score (DHC), Drowning, Jean Marc and Inner Rage, E-Town Concrete, Cold As Life, The Hoods, Chuck and On The Rise Records, Full Court Press, Out For Blood, The Offense, One4One, Dynamo, Everybody Gets Hurt, Wake Up Cold, Next Step Up, Punishment, Nothing Lost, Dyingrace, Sworn Enemy, Redline, Synnecrosis, and anyone I may have forgotten.