MORNING AFTER: BRAD HANCOCK MEMORIAL SHOW

This isn't going to be a typical play-by-play of the show the other night, because we're still trying to process everything.

In short, it was amazing. It was one of the most fun shows I've ever been a part of and I wanted to thank Blake and Jessica for everything they did to get it together. Thanks, also, to all the bands that played, everyone that donated raffle prizes, and everyone that showed up early and/or stayed late.

Seven Daggers, Close Grip, Despite Despair, Skeiff D'Bargg, City to City, Cherem, Aftermath of a Trainwreck, Tamerlane, Pushing Up Daisies and Clear were all fantastic and heartfelt appreciation goes out to each and every person in those bands for dedicating your time, energy, and heart to getting your sets ready over the past few months.

I, like most of you I'm sure, spent a long time yesterday searching Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube for pictures and videos from the show. You guys did a great job of being in the moment during the show, but also documenting it, so good job on that front. It's a hard thing to pull off these days.

If you have footage (of any kind) from the show, feel free to send me a link at trevorhale@gmail.com. I'd be happy to post videos and photos from the show up here over the next few days/weeks.

There won't be a lot of new content on GCA going forward, but there may be some. Dan and I didn't quite finish all the 101's we had planned, but we'd like to. Our goal is to finish the rest and roll them out over the course of a few weeks and maybe get them all collected into a zine at some point this year. Fingers crossed on that.

Thanks again to everyone that reads this site, commented and shared Facebook posts, came to the show, threw punches and kicks, and had a good fucking time.

Thanks to Byron (of Skeiff D'Bargg) for the City to City set below. Hopefully there's more to come.

ONE VOICE: AARON HUNSAKER

Better known in the hardcore scene as "Foeknawledge," Aaron Husaker's endeavors in hip-hop turned a lot of kids onto "hardcore" concepts like political awareness, animals rights, and drug-free living during the early 2000s.

After a long hiatus, Foekus jumped back on the mic last October to celebrate the Eleventh Street Electric Gallery's 3rd Anniversary. But with the man's busy schedule as a full-time father, yoga instructor and counselor to SLC youth, no one's sure if it'll happen again. Cross your fingers...

How were you introduced to the Salt Lake Hardcore scene?

I met some straight edge homies around town. I had just gotten out of jail and was over using drugs and drinking. These cats were cool and liked to play c-lo. We started chillin then they started dragging me to shows. I grew up on punk rock but had no experince with the more contemporary hardcore movement. I went to one show and was hooked.

Memorable SLHC moments?

Foekus and Cherem! It all started as a joke and the shit was way fun. Watching people get really wild while I was on stage was dope.


Favorite SLHC bands?

I like Reflect because they covered a 108 song. Mostly old bands though like Bad Yodelers and Season of the Spring. Cool Your Jets was pretty tight too...I don't know, lots of shit I guess.

How has the Salt Lake Hardcore scene impacted your life?

Well, I was an emcee who got into the vegan/straight edge, so I took a lot of social and political influence from hardcore that just straight up made me a better person. Plus all my best homies I ever had came out of the hardcore scene.

What are your thoughts on the state of hardcore and its future?

I don't really listen to a whole lot of new shit but if the band covers a 108 song or some shit, I will be stage dives and high fives all day. I like some of the new bands but I am more into the old sound. i have nothing to say really though, as long as people are having fun.

POLL RESULTS: ALBEE SQUARE IS YOUR FAVORITE VENUE OF THE 2000s

You can't mention hardcore from the beginning of the 2000s without bringing up Albee Square. Just yesterday, a close friend of mine took a Facebook poll that asked him how he and I met and his answer was, "Probably at a show at Albee."  Blake and Scott brought in so many great bands (Integrity, Ringworm, Amendment 18... the list could go on for days) and there was always a sense that the venue was alive for all the right reasons. Salt Lake bands like Aftermath of a Trainwreck, Cherem, and Skeiff d' Bargg played some of their most historic shows in that big, lofty space.

The Vortex came in second. This makes a lot of sense since The Vortex was very much the Albee Square of the second half of the 2000s. Blake and Sias brought dozens and dozens of great bands and made just as many memories for locals. Salt Lake acts like Tamerlane, Up River, Cool Your Jets, Shutout, XReflectX, and City to City really got their start in that, once again, big, lofty space. And  the new generation of Ogden Hardcore bands journeyed south for the first times to play shows there. 

Thankfully, everyone remembers the Junction(s) in the correct light and chose not to vote for them. (Though there were some amazing shows at those places... Bad Luck 13?)

Here's the Top 3:

Albee Square - 31 (29%)

Vortex - 21 (20%)

DV8 - 18 (17%)

What are your thoughts?

ONE VOICE: MATT MASCARENAS

I remember seeing Matt slinging a video camera at some of the first hardcore shows I went to. I remember thinking, "I wonder if that little, little kid's parents know where he's at at such an ungodly hour." Something like a decade later, Matt's still breaking curfew. He started playing music with Grace from Gallows/The Masses. Moved onto a guitar spot in Aftermath of a Trainwreck. Guest spotted on a Cherem tour. Then formed Cool Your Jets and Murdock/Challenger. And today he fronts Reviver -- one of the most hardworking bands to ever come out of Salt Lake. Thanks Matt's parents.

How were you introduced to Salt Lake Hardcore?

I was introduced to Vision Of Disorder's self-titled record and was really into it. I started looking for new music that was comparable and somehow came across the Burn the Rat website. A few friends and I decided to go check out a show and kept going after that.

Memorable SLHC shows?

Shows at Albee Square in general. The one that sticks out the most was when Stretch Arm Strong played there. There weren't many people there but it was a great time nonetheless. Another show that comes to mind was when Unearth played at Uprok, well, the coffee shop that was next to Uprok.

Who are your favorite SLHC bands?

My favorite bands to come out this state are Form of Rocket, Parallax, and Pushing Up Daisies. Form of Rocket is a given. Parallax were amazing musicians. They also had a great message and opened me up to a lot of new social topics/problems. I saw Pushing up Daisies at the first show I went to and was really into it. I didn't get to see them again for a good three years or so.

How has the hardcore scene impacted your life?

The hardcore scene was inspiring in a sense that the kids were responsible for everything. It was a underground community/network for kids that saw the many problems going on that and wanted to change things for the better, such as A New Dawn Breaking. ANDB introduced me to veganism.

What are your thoughts on the state of hardcore and its future?

The potential is there, just as it always has been, its just a matter of kids taking advantage of it. That aspect of it has been proven to be unpredictable. Its always up and down. Either way, I have high hopes for the future.

SALT LAKE HARDCORE 101: MOSHALICIOUS

"Heroes get remembered, but legends never die."

That statement sums up the short-lived, yet prolific career of Moshalicious.

Made up of a virtual all-star Salt Lake City line-up, the group was comprised of former and current members of Opened Up, Cherem, Aftermath of a Trainwreck, Sleeping Giant and Tamerlane. The goal of the band was simple: live up to the name.

And live up to the name they did. Taking inspiration from the band Bad Luck 13, the group got together one evening in the early fall of 2001 to write one epic song that would move crowds from front to back and side to side. They wanted all hell to break loose.

The only show the band ever played was at a small coffee shop called Undergroundz. It was a surprise set that everyone knew would come eventually. There had been too much talk and too many rumors swirling that everyone that regularly attended a hardcore show that summer knew it was bound to happen sooner or later.

The show carried along fine, until a drifter appeared in front of the coffee shop eager to tell tales and bask in the attention usually only reserved for sideshow freaks. The vagrant produced a dildo and bottle of toothpaste and proceeded to brush his teeth on the sidewalk for all to see. He then stormed inside and preformed a one man show that would later be referred to as "The Undercover Cop." Every eye was fixated as he waved his hands in the air and moved about the room and yelled for all to hear. When he was finished, he took a bow, yet no one clapped. The crowd was too stunned and unsure of what they had just witnessed.

But it was nothing compared to what they were about to see.

In the back of the coffee shop, Compilate had graciously (but foolishly) allowed the members of Moshalicious to borrow their equipment—because a sneak attack cannot be done properly if the band is forced to bring their own—and the stage was set.

The seven men, all donning masks and hooded sweatshirts launched into their first, last and only song, "Friends Don't Let Friends Fight Alone" and unleashed the fury.

Very few lyrics were actually audible as the three vocalists stormed the room, dancing with bats and dodged pieces of cinder block flying through the air. One bat became tangled in guitar chords and during a rather impressive spin-move, a vintage effects pedal was hurled through the audience, connecting with and breaking the thumb of the very man that had been kind enough to loan it out. As that happened, the guitarist became enraged and took to the dance floor himself, swinging the guitar above his head, daring anyone to get in the way.

As the majority of the crowd stood in stunned silence towards the end of the song, the vagrant burst into the room igniting a whole new level of energy. He too, joined the madness and began flinging bricks and  inflicting harm upon himself by smashing his own skull with a miniature bat.

When the song ended, not a single person clapped. The silence was deafening and no one was quite sure what had just happened, but they all knew they had witnessed something special.

Sadly, the only video footage of the show was destroyed and Moshalicious was never seen again, yet the legend lives on.

POLL RESULTS: CHEREM IS YOUR FAVORITE VEGAN STRAIGHT EDGE BAND

This might be the closest poll we've ever had. Cherem took the win with just two votes over Earth Crisis, who were just 7 votes above Chokehold.

Cherem - 35 (29%)
Earth Crisis - 33 (27%)
Chokehold - 26 (22%)
I'll have my steak and eat it too - 16 (13%)
Vegan Reich - 8 (6%)

Write-in votes go out to Raid, Morning Again, Culture, Kindred, Framework, Purification, Anchor, Green Rage, Canon, Tears of Gaia, and early Abnegation.

HOLY NECK-AND-NECK!

Best Vegan Straight Edge Band of All Time? One day left to vote...

Chokehold - 24

Cherem - 23

Earth Crisis - 23

Your vote could decide the winner...

BEST VEGAN STRAIGHTEDGE BAND OF ALL TIME?

If you'd like to vote for a band that's not on this list, feel free to write it into the comments. But if you'd like to vote for a band that's not on this list, you should probably give these four a better listen.

Vegan Reich

Earth Crisis

Chokehold

Cherem

SALT LAKE HARDCORE 101: SKEIFF D' BARGG

• Skeiff d'Bargg on MySpace

SDB's longest running line-up. Circa 2004.
Jake, Blake, Dan, Robbie, Little E

On a cold Fall evening in 2003, Blake Foard, Dan Fletcher and Eddie Golub sat around a table at the infamous Salt Lake Coffee Break. The subject of discussion? A new Salt Lake Hardcore band. Coming from Aftermath of a Trainwreck, Cherem and Tamerlane respectively, the trio sought to break from the more metallic sound of their other outfits and create something more aligned with the late 80s sounds of Slapshot and Judge. One or two practices later, the project dissolved.

Some months after that, Dan got a call from Blake. "Hey Dan," Blake said, "I'm doing a show for Integrity... you want to get that band back together and open?" Integrity being one of Dan's favorite bands he agreed, then proceeded to slamdance around his apartment air guitaring the opening riff to "Micha."

The two enlisted Jake of Aftermath of a Trainwreck and Trevor of Cherem on guitar and bass and dragged Skerv down from Ogden to play drums. The plan: to play fast, traditional, old school hardcore in Salt Lake City. This was a crazy idea to say the least considering it had been years since a Salt Lake band had attempted to write a song without a breakdown.

Another chance meeting at the Coffee Break would provide the band with its ridiculous name. Various members of the Salt Lake hardcore scene sat around a ring of couches. One of those in attendance, a guy named Andrew, struck up a conversation with a neighboring group of girls.

"Have you ladies seen the movie, Skeiff d'Bargg," asked Andrew.

"No, what's that?"

"You haven't seen Skeiff d'Bargg? Starring Terrance Jeffreyson and Honyierpo Fishpound?"

"Umm, no, what's it about?"

"Well, it's about a gang of Japanese bikers that go back in time..."

A few days before the Integrity show, the band was without a name. "Let's call it Skeiff d'Bargg," Blake said to Dan. "Okay." And the dumbest name in the history of Salt Lake hardcore was set in stone.

The show went off without a hitch.

Well, except that the band didn't know any of their songs except covers of Sick of it All's "Clobberin' Time" and Judge's "New York Crew" and kids mainly stood around confused over the lack of breakdowns. Oh, and when the band distributed the iron-on merchandise they made in the minutes before the show, Tyler of Aftermath got a purple, XXL turtleneck with kick me screened on the back. The set went better for Skeiff than it did for Tyler.

But Skeiff was born!

Rob Mini-Marts was brought in on drums shortly after and became an integral part of the band--by this I mean, the only part with the motivation to book recording time, make merch, write song and lyrics, etc. etc. Bassists included at one time or another "Kick Me" Tyler, Byron of Creation and Little E.

The band unofficially released a number of demos, most notably 2005's Jean Claude Van Demo, and recorded nearly 30 songs that would become This Is All We Know: The Skeiff d' Bargg Discography--limited to something like 60 or 70. (There would have been more copies but Blake, Jake and Dan decided to spend more time laminating garbage than making sleeves at Kinkos before the show.)

Anthems like "Drug Free for Christ's Sakes" and "Fuck the Cops" won the hearts of many, but continued to leave them motionless and confused by the lack of breakdowns.

Skeiff provided a soundtrack for many infamous Salt Lake Hardcore shows including the DRI riot in the DV8 Basement, the one at Albee Square where the homeless guy died in the street and the New Year's Eve show where the kid went into a seizure.

Perhaps the highlight of the band's career came when they convinced studio genius and hardcore veteran Andy Patterson to record vocals on a cover of the Cro-Mags' "Hard Times." The track was hidden at the end of one of the band's many demos.

Constant line-up changes brought Skeiff to a halt in 2005. Blake continued to play with Aftermath of a Trainwreck and went on to form Cool Your Jets, Gloves Off and Dismantled. Dan continued on with Cherem before doing time with First Blood, Gloves Off and City to City. Jake vanished. Robbie played with Shutout, Asthma Attack and worked on his solo project, the Vanilla Gorilla, before moving to Seattle where he plays in the band Media Mind.

Skeiff's music can be found at their MySpace page.

FOEKUS AND CHEREM

Anyone else still love this track?

"I FUCKING HATE ANGELS"

Bill French (Cherem, Up River, 78 Days After Death), who works in New York for The End Records now got a strange phone call this morning and he was kind enough to share it.

Find more videos like this on Step it up


Asrai is the band in question. Also check out Step It Up if you haven't. It's where I stole the video from.

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE VIDEO ARCHIVE

Sleeping Giant



One Clean Life



Cherem



GCA Video Archive

NEW-AND-IMPROVED GCA VIDEO ARCHIVE

We're working on getting a GCA YouTube channel up and running (there's a link in the sidebar called GCA Video Archive). It's a work in progress, but we can upload more videos to YouTube than we can to Vimeo, so it's moving pretty fast. Keep checking back for more.

Full sets from Cherem, Collapse, City to City, Dogwelder, Tamerlane, Gloves Off and Aftermath of a Trainwreck, as well as, songs from Dismantled, Cool Your Jets and Bring the Gallows are already up!

CHEREM FLASHBACK

"Slit Wrist of Humanity" from the Cherem/CYJ video show.


Cherem - Slit Wrist of Humanity from Grudge City Activities on Vimeo.

TIME SURE FLIES

CHEREM CIRCA 2002 = THE VEGAN STRAIGHTEDGE BACKSTREET BOYS

CHEREM CIRCA 2007 = THE VEGAN STRAIGHTEDGE GRUMPY OLD MEN?

GRUDGE CITY COLLECTIBLES: FIRST EVER CHEREM RELEASE

Does anyone still have one of these? Just curious.
Front

Back

Insert

78 DAYS AFTER DEATH FEATURED ON x43x

The x43x blog has posted an extremely informative piece on early 2000s Salt Lake act, 78 Days After Death. Members of this band went on to form Cherem, Opened Up, Tamerlane, Up River, Collapse and more. Get yourself in the know!

78 Days After Death can be heard here.

25 TA LIFE ENDS IN APRIL 09/RICK TA LIFE TO FRONT OLC

After a number of years and thousands of dollars made bootlegging other bands CD's and merch (Cherem and Aftermath of a Trainwreck included) Rick Ta Life is calling it a day for seminal hardcore band 25 Ta Life. There will be one more tour that should wrap everything up in a nice little package later this spring. If you never saw them, you get one last chance.

And while Rick Ta Life will still have his King RTL/Infamous RTL hip hop project and clothing line—that is apparently not enough. Come springtime, he'll be fronting a new version of One Life Crew. Straight from the 25 Ta Life Myspace blog:
"YES ITS TRUE STOP EMAIL​ING ME

ME AND CHUBB​Y WILL TOUR
STEVE​ WILL BE WITH US IN SPRIT​ A REAL OLC OG

PREPA​RE FRUIT​S"

Hopefully this OLC tour (which many doubt will actually happen) will be accompanied by the new shirt design that both RTL and Chubby Fresh have worked up—OLC: Obama Lynchin' Crew.

This should all go extremely well. Hope they come here.

EDIT: Apparently, after he cut all his dreads off he was selling them—one by one—in a hand-made coffin, along with a picture of himself, for $125. This has not been 100% confirmed, but I think we can all just assume it's true.

STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH - CLINT HALLADAY

Four months ago at breakfast the conversation moved in a direction that sent out a ripple effect that made the unforgettable show this past weekend. For many of us, this was something that we have only dreamed about.

When we finally decided to make it not just a dream, there were many obstacles we had to over come. Of course, money was the biggest issue. We meet up at a coffee shop to talk about how we were going to go about it. The first thing I said as we sat down was, "I don't think we can pull this off, we need a lot of money." Lucky for us I was wrong, and we have the best friends anyone could ask for. Not only did our friends say that they would help us cover if we lost money but, we had one very handsome but crazy friend, Nathan Steele, put up $1800 to bring six guys out to salt lake.

Plane tickets were bought, the venue was booked and the clock was counting down to dec 6. We chose the three most deserving bands to play the show and started promoting the show as best we could. I did nothing but stress out about making enough money to cover the cost of flight and venue, but the only thing I could do was put posters up and hope people would show up.

Three months later Mike, Jack, and I were picking Starkweather up at the airport, not having any idea what the next 48 hours had in store. We dropped them off at their hotel, and the next morning, Jack and I went and hung out with the six guys we had just met the day before. I can honestly say that it was like being with friends I haven't seen in a long time. If nothing else, you could never say that "..those starkweather guys are fucking terds." Fuck, I might hit someone if I heard them say that..

After a walk up to a pawn shop we parted ways and went to get everything we needed to get the show going. We met up at the venue and loaded everything in. As we were setting up for the sound check and me now stressing about the drum set, there is nothing that can be done but hope everything goes as planned.

The sound guy was ready and told Starkweather to play a song to check the levels. In the venue at this time were the few people helping with the show and other three bands, so a total of about 25-30 people. They started playing and everyone in there stopped in shock. My stomach turned, I was in complete awe, it was really happening. You could feel the excitement in the room with only the few people in there. Nothing made me feel that way since I was 16 and thought that the holy ghost and jesus were real existing beings.

The doors opened and people started to fill the club and if you were there you know the rest. Every band played as good as they ever have. The feel of the show was something I have not felt in a long time and to everyone there I say thank you. You have no idea what you help start. Please keep coming to shows. You are the life blood to our scene. With out all of you we would have just another sub par hardcore scene. So I thank you all.

I would like to give a very big thanks to those 7 guys I got to meet this week end. I would like to let Starkweather know with out you Salt Lake wouldn't be what we are. Bands like Lifeless, Triphammer, Climb, Cherem, Aftermath, Tamerlane, Reflect, ect. and the many up coming bands wouldn't exsist.

I would like Tamerlane, Sleeping Giant and, Reflect to know how much you mean to Salt Lake Hardcore. I look up to you as to many other kids, young and old. With you as examples I have very high hopes for what is coming next.

I would like to thank Blake Foard for all his hard work with all the past shows he has done, and more importantly the ones he will do in the future.

I would like to thank Nathan, Dan, Sias, and Trevor for all the hard work they put in to this show. Thank you for making this happen, I know Salt Lake thanks you too. With out you it wouldn't have happened.

And Big Dog, thanks for starting this crazy idea. You have many of them, keep them coming.

We have big plans, we have great ideas, WE HAVE SOMETHING NO OTHER PLACE HAS. Be proud to say you are apart of the Salt Lake City Hardcore scene.

Hats off Salt Lake, hats off.

CHEREM - RETRIBUTION

An oldie, but a goodie. This is a video courtesy of Martin Shutout. I've got a whole bunch of footage from this show, and I'm slowly beginning to root through it. Hopefully there'll be a couple Cool Your Jets videos up from it in the near future.


Cherem - Retribution - Video Show from Grudge City Activities on Vimeo.