Cro-Mags on 12-2000 by Know No Boundaries Zine

EKNB: The year 2000 was a comeback for the Cro-Mags, a new record, tons of touring, how did the reception for the new record (REVENGE) go, and how were the shows?

PM: The reviews for Revenge were tremendous, Album of the year in the Netherlands, Kerrang in England gave us KKKK and Metal Edge said it was our best. Most every review said it was by far our best cd. Which to me goes without saying but new fans who never heard us before and hear REVENGE and Age of Quarrel for the first time, prefer REVENGE which makes perfect sense to me, though many older fans have an association with a time period, the impact something so original had on them. New fans embracing Revenge is natural because the songwriting is better, the performance is better and the conspicuous presence of actual singing. As opposed to John's more simplistic though appropriate barking on Age of Quarrel.

EKNB: You toured extensivly in Europe on the tour, how did that go?

PM: Touring Europe is really no different than touring in the US in terms of the reaction from the stage. It isn't untill you are face to face with the fans that the difference becomes obvious. They are extemely passionate about everything and they want to know everything that you think about everything and moreover they want to tell you what they think. They are very political. Also the obvious big difference is instead of playing in Bumfuck , Nebraska, you can play in Athens Greece and see the 4000 year old Acropolyse or play in Barcelona Spain and see thousand year old churches, it is amazing.

EKNB: How did you guys get hooked up with Rocky George (Suicidal Tendencies)?

PM:A friend of mine named Mike Schnapp worked at Epic during the big years for Suicidal and he knew I loved them so when he found out we were about to record and we wanted a second guitarist he sent our demo to Rocky. He listened to it and liked what we were doing and we spoke on the phone for about an hour and a few days later he was on a plane to NYC, and two days later we went into the studio to record REVENGE.

EKNB: I remember seeing you guys as Samsara (Harley, Rocky G. and you) with Earth Crisis and Candiria back in 98, and it was basically the same lineup as the Cro-Mags today, was Samsara a different band as far as music?

PM:No, it was simply us trying to move on playing music, but when the record was done it was a Cro-Mags cd because we are Cr0-Mags. When we played people would say "OH THE CRO-MAGS' When you succeed in impressing people worldwide with something you created you should embrace it. We had no choice we are Cr0-Mags so we put out the cd with that name.

EKNB: I've heard alot of rumors of all sorts about the relationship with Earth Crisis on that tour, is there just alot of shittalk or was there animosity between you guys and eXc?

PM:Yes there was. They were very petty people. Initially, before the tour they were saying things like "you guys are legends, and if it wasn't for you..blah, blah, blah." Then when the tour started they started throwing their weight around and tried to lay down the law so to speak in very petty ways and we weren't having it. Thus came the conflict. People should be happy to on the road playing music and as a result all of us should work together but they just wanted to prove they were the big dogs now, ultimately the tour was a flop and I think their behavior towards us had alot to do with their embarrassment over that failure, they were realizing they were over before they were anything and they took it out on us. One night they didn't want to play because there wasn't enough kids, so I made sure the promotor payed us before we went on. We played and while we were playing Earth Crisis showed up and demanded they get paid half their money without playing, so the promotor said "I gave the money to Parris" So the promotor and the drummer came up to me while I was playing on stage and demanded we give up the money or we are kicked off the tour. I said we don't have your money, just the measly two hundred dollars we are contracted to play for and we are playing, the promotor owes you money not us. The drummer said "pay or your off the tour" I took the money out of my pocket and said to him "we would tour for free if we could but this little bit buys us gas, we are playing and you are not even going to play tonight and you want to take the money the promotor contracted us for" I threw the money in his face and turned around and we finished playing our set to twenty people. Twenty kids who paid and deserved our best show, we gave it to them. We still had alot of fun on that tour playing with Hatebreed and Candiria. They were cool and fun to tour with and definetely shared our distacste for EXC

EKNB: Being one of the forefathers of Hardcore, what changes have you seen both negative or positive?

PM:I personally think that Hardcore doesn't really exist anymore. Not the hardcore I knew, the bad Brains, Minor threat, Black flag, Crumbsuckers. To me the scene was great because it hadn't been defined yet, The magic was in it's creation. We were making it up as we went along, and we didn't know we were creating a culture and writing a blueprint. Every show was different and you didn't know what was going to happen, and since no blueprint existed we didn't know what the music would sound like, so it was fresh and that is where the vibrance of the scene came from. Discovery. Now there is a blueprint that tells kids how music should sound, how they should dress what to think even what to eat and not eat. Our scene spawned as a result of the bands, for the bands. Now the bands come from the scene. Also the music is so different now, it should have a different name I guess or no name. For Example I think Hatebreed is more a kin to Slipknot that Minor threat. I love both those bands but I don't know if they should be called hardcore. And believe me I am a fan of music and am always looking for recommendations on new music, I don't sit around listening to Circle Jerks and talking about the "Good old days" I much prefer to go out and smile my fucking face off at a Hatebreed show or play my new songs. Negatively? Well, when I first encountered what became the hardcore scene, my impression was it was the smarter kids who it appealed to. The ones at school who didn't want to be spoonfed their opinions and they saw something new and original being sparked and they wanted to be part of it. I often felt like an outsider at shows and would not really associate, in some bizzare parania that I was just an observer and I didn't want to interfere in some way. Then ironoically my band came along and drew bigger and bigger crowds till our shows were bigger than the actual scene. The image of our band was tough. Overnight it was cooler to be tough than to be smart and slowly but surely the smart kids were outnumbered and they began to leave the scene and moreover many more kids never came close and why would they want to. The scene had a built in deterent. Itself. In a way Cro-Mags made the biggest contribution the Age of Quarrel and dealt it it's death blow at the same time.

EKNB: You guys have toured with all sorts of bands, including GBH, Megadeth and Venom just to name a few. How did the metal kids take your stuff? You guys definitly could appeal to both, but especially with like Venom, how did the kids at those shows take you guys?

PM: It never really surprised me that metal kids would like Cro-Mags because we use the same eliments to make music, heavy guitars and a big sound. I never aligned myself with metal or hardcore really, I didn't even think of us as hardcore, we were Cro-Mags. I felt more musically a kin to Motorhead. But never understood either, I was a fan of songs. I heard Motorhead and Sex Pistols and it was the same to me, great and it changed everything for me and set off on a path to do what they did. We were the first hardcore band to play with real metal bands like Venom and when we played with them the fans booed us for ten minutes straight, chanting "fuck you, go home" then we began to play "we gotta know' and by the time the intro was over they were headbanging like Cliff Burton. Later we toured with motorhead and really blew up and by that point we were a non genre band really. Punks, skins, hardcore kids metal heads, even Mods, all came to our shows and that is how it should be. We were by no means a metal band but I must say look at what was happening in metal then and look at what was happening a few years later. Hardcore definitly was more influence oever metal than reverse

EKNB: Back in the day, Roger Miret (Agnostic Front) tried out for vocals for Cro-Mags, why did that fall through?

PM: Well at that time we were planning to fire John Joseph and Mackie at the same time so we held a rehearsal with Roger and with Pete Hines of Murphy's Law. Both were dissatisfied with their respective bands and were going to quit to join Cr0-Mags. We jammed and it was good but after talking more with Roger and Pete, they didn't want to play with Harley, they were more interestested in starting a new band with me. I obviously elected to continue what I had started with Cro-Mags and Roger with Af, though later we ended up bringing Pete into the band for the tour to support Age of Quarrel and to record Best Wishes. I think Roger is one of the only genuine people I have ever met.

EKNB: I saw somewhere that you studied video production, and directed the "We Gotta Know" video as well as Onyx's "Slam" and Type O Negative's "Black Number 1", how did you get hooked up with these bands, and are there any other videos or works to your credit?

PM:I worked in the film business for years after Cro-Mags. I directed videos for Run DMC, Biohazard and Insane Clown Posse. I directed around thirty five videos and will be doing it again soon.

EKNB The history of the Cro-Mags seems to vary with each person you ask, but in all of them it's been very tumultuous, and off and on you guys have been together in one form or another for over 20 years, what kept Cro-Mags going?

PM: The story varies because the people who are telling it are not the ones who lived it. Harley and I. We started the band and we write the songs, simple as that. The Cro-Mags is our music. There have been many musicians with us along the way but there would have been a Cro-Mags with or without them. They should be proud of their contributions and move on instead they try to present themselves as being integral parts of the band. John wasn't even our first singer, we were giging and had written almost the entire classic age of quarrel set before John joined us. We were writing for three years before John entered the fold. The music does the talking and REVENGE is Cro-Mags, even Jimmy Guestapo of Murphy's Law said when he first heard REVENGE " wow, this is Cro-MAgs, it is obvious now where and who cro-mags came from, Both Worlds didn't sound like this" and that is the point, the sound is what makes Cro-Mags. John not being a musician tried always to distract attention away from the music and put the emphasis on the philisophical slant, but that slant didn't have the same power in BOTH WORLDs and neither did his image as a frontman. Best Wishes sold more copies of Quarrel anyway so the fans did the talkin too, I realize Quarrel has a certain sentimental value but I can't look at it that way. They are all songs I wrote in my house for myself.

EKNB: What kinda stuff are you guys listening to now? I heard Harley is into pop punk as of late, what other kinda stuff do you guys get into?

PM:I am a fan of songs, not genres. I like Slipknot, Chris Cornell, Pantera, though I am leaning towards Slipknot when I want that kind of sick metal. Foo Fighters and old hip hop like Ghetto Boys. I am always looking for new music. As far as Harley goes, he likes Black Sabbath and that's about all I.m sure of.

EKNB Can we expect a follow up to 'Revenge'?

PM Not likely, Harley and I have different goals. Revenge was more the cd I wanted to make, he expressed his dissatisfaction in it all the way through, he said "I just want you to know I don't like the way this album came out" I felt exactly the opposite, I definetely felt it could have been a lot better with more team effort but I am very proud of it. It is the only one I can listen to without cringing. .

EKNB: Any closing comments, rants, etc?

PM:I don't tend to rant unless provoked and I must say your questions were provocative but in a way that made me want to answer them carefully. I thank anyone who ever bought our cd's or saw us live, I was paid back greatly for my hard work with people who listened.