Run Devil Run on 09-15-2000 by propheci

Here's an interview I did with Victory's Run Devil Run. The band is trying to bring back positive hardcore that seems to be lacking these days back in the scene. They're in the same vein as Gorilla Biscuits, Madball, etc. Of course, bold is me and un-bold is Foose, singer of Run Devil Run. Notice how I just cut into middle of his sentences. That's on the list of DO's for interviews. Err..maybe it was the DON'Ts....

Well, I guess first introduce yourself.
My name is Foose. I sing for Run Devil Run, and part of us are from Cleveland Ohio. And the other guys are from Detroit and Erie, PA.

Wow, so how did you guys meet up?
I used to sing for a band called the Spudmonsters. And Mike, our former bass player, he is presently the singer for Brother's Keeper. And Richie, the drummer, is from In Cold Blood, who's also on Victory. Yeah, we were all just friends and decided to put a side project together. So we put out our first record...

When did you guys put out your first record?
First album came out in 98. And it was just meant to be a recording project. We weren't gonna play any shows. And once that CD came out...

Who was it released by?
Oh, it was released by an European Label. So we went over and did a few tours. We did shows at Dynamo in Holland. It evolved and we decided to do it full-time then.

Where do you guys get your name from?
There's a little these candles that are meant to chase away spirit that you see in these Mexican stores? They're called "Run Devil Run" candles. And we just thought it was a pretty cool name.

I got your CD about a week ago, and I've been listening to it all last week. It's different from all these modern hardcore bands.
Yeah, it's more oldschool.

Did you guys decide to make that sound since there are many oldschool hardcore bands anymore?
Right. The whole project in 98 was meant to just bring back the early Cro-Mags sound, which has been lost. That's what hardcore used to be. Through the years, hardcore has evolved and now it's just metal. We just wanted to play oldschool hardcore. I like a lot of the new hardcore stuff or metalcore bands. But I miss that old sound, so we decided to put it together.

So other than the Cro-Mags, what other bands did you try to make your sound similiar to?
Pretty much we devoted all our energy to Cro-Mags' Age of Quarrel. That old-style sound. I have different influences myself. I'm really into the Bad Brains, early Agnostic Front, and Gorilla Biscuits. A lof straight-edge stuff.

What about the other members?
The other guys are into anything from death metal to emo. There's so many influences. Everyone has their own little embarrasing influences.

When did you record this Sinking Deeper album?
In Strongsville, Ohio. In some kid's garage. The kid's really really good with what he does.

So was it released initally somewhere else?
Yeah, it was release in Europe. Record label called I Scream Records. He put out our first record. And then he put our the second one. Then Victory got a hold of it, and they said they wanted to put it out in the States. It was like pretty nice deal for us. They have such nice distribution.

So do you have plans to record another record soon?
Well, right now this just came out. We are still trying to tour and support it. We're gonna goto Europe and tour and tour the States as well. We just want to keep things rolling, but we're gonna write music as we go. We're gonna probably write another record.

Ok, cool. Who are you thinking to tour with?
Right now we're trying to set something up for Entombed and Crowbar for Europe. Yeah that's more of a metal type crowd, but we've got an offer that happen. If it does happen, the promoter want us to be a part of it. And if does happen, that would be a pretty good tour for use.

Yeah, I listen to both of those bands. They're all metal and..
Yeah, totally. I mean we'll tour with anybody. I'm gonna check with MAD, which is a touring agency in Europe, and see if there are any good hardcore tours that we can jump on. As far as the States goes, we wanna get on a good hardcore tour; we're looking. We're actually trying to get on this Victory Winter tour with all Victory bands.

When's that Entombed and Crowbar tour gonna take place?
We're looking Feburary. It's just an idea right now; nothing written in stone.

What do you think about the current hardcore scene?
I think through the years, it's really changed a lot. Hardcore scene used to be a big positive movement. I see a lot of negativity coming into the hardcore scene. It's not the same as it used to be. Hardcore used to mean unity and brother hood. Now I see a lof of bands that go out, and all they care about are themselves. They get up on stage, and they talk trash about other bands and other people. I don't think it's the same as it used to be, and it's kinda what Run Devil Run's trying to do, trying to bring a positive unity back to the hardcore scene.

Where do you think that comes from?
I think if a band comes out, reach a certain level of popularity, and have a negative message. A lot of kids look up to them, and before you know, there's a lot of bands playing that same style or same message. You know all these bands that just wanna fight and stuff. They don't even have a reason to be angry with people. They just do it because it's cool. I think all society is taking a turn for the worse. We're just trying to keep a positive message.

Who did you guys tour with in Europe?
We toured with Pro-Pain when we went to Europe. That was the only band that was on the road at that time. We headlined and did some shows. We did some festival, the Dynamo with Metallica, S.O.D., Merauder. It was a big huge event. We did a Duel Festival in Belgium with a lot of hardcore bands. Scarhead played, and Ministry headlined that. We did 3 European tours, but we really haven't done much in the States yet. So we're focusing on the States more on this album.