Interview with John of Lastwatch.com 1. Can you give us a rundown of band history as well as who is in the band and what they play? Is anybody doing any other bands or side projects? The saga started back in 1997 when Karl and the guys from Out To Win teamed up for a side-project band. They played for about 3 months together and then Karl broke away from Out To Win and got a whole new lineup. From that first lineup to now, we've gone through too many changes to name, but the guys we have now are solid and hopefully we can keep what we got. On vocals we got Karl, Jack (myself) on guitar, Tom on guitar, Steve on bass, and Ed on drums. None of the guys are in any side-projects……total dedication. 2. In the beginning, what influenced you guys to pick up instruments and start playing? Was it a particular band or record or person? For me, my father got me into playing the guitar. He had this awesome Les Paul replica that I used to play with as a kid and as I got older I would sit around and try to play old SOIA, AF, and Minor Threat. Then things progressed, I got older and better and landed in Strength For A Reason. I'm pretty much sure it was the same for the other guys. 3. Other than the obvious Hardcore, what other kinds of music are you guys into? Are there any Oi! fans in SFAR? I'm into all kinds of stuff from metal to 80's. You just can't limit yourself to one style of music. I personally like Oi! and have for a number of years. As far as the other guys, I know they are pretty big into metal and stuff like that. 4. How would you describe your own sound to people who may not have heard? I've heard a lot of things from a lot of different people concerning us and our sound. Usually they compare us to the likes of Madball, One Life Crew, with some Hatebreed influences. We are definitely a traditional hardcore band, with some few new-school beats and breakdown. We try to keep it true and not get caught up in the metal-madness and "chug-chugs" going on with hardcore today. We do however incorporate a little of it into our music, which I think makes us appeal to a much bigger crowd. 5. What are you trying to say as a band? Is there anything you really want kids to come away with after they've seen you live or heard Show and Prove? Basically, we try to spread the message of the importance of friendship and commitment in everyone's lives. Our lyrics reflect the hardships of trying to make something out of yourself in life and not giving into the pressures of the world around you. Staying true to yourself and your beliefs is our main message. It would be great for kids to come away with a feeling of relation to our music. I feel most kids today are going through the same stuff we have and from what some fans tell us, our music helped them get through some tough times in their lives. There is nothing better than hearing someone tell you that. It makes it all worth it. 6. Where have you guys played or toured and can you give us a funny story from that? Where would you like to play that you haven't? We've played a lot of places, too many to name. Basically all along the east coast and out into the Midwest. One of the funniest moments huh, well we've had so many.. How about a band horror story. We had a show down in Seaside Heights, NJ about 2 years ago and we decided to make a weekend vacation out of it. Before going, our registration expired and we sent out for a new one but never got it. I went to our local cops and asked them whats the worst that could happen. He told us a $15 fine. Well… Karl planned on coming down the next day because of work, so we set out. We got down to Seaside and low and behold we get some cops pull up behind us in a parking lot. They run the plates and decide to ask for registration. At that point I was ready to cry. I told him the situation and they basically said "Fuck You" and took our vehicle off of us and impounded it. We asked for a ride to a hotel and the said they couldn't give us one so they left us in the parking lot. We had nowhere to go so we slept under the boardwalk! That's right under the boardwalk. I called Karl and told him of the situation. Meanwhile it started to storm like hell because it was the time that the one hurricane was hitting the east coast. We were sandy, wet, cold and smelled like shit. To make a long story short, we pleaded with the cops to let us get our equipment to play the show. We played the show, got $15 out of the deal and raided the MAC machine to get money to get our vehicle back. We had to be towed since our vehicle was unregistered so they towed us to the PA border. About half way there, the tow truck broke so we pushed it with our bus, because we were illegally hiding in there because there weren't enough seats in the tow truck. At the pa border, we made a mad dash for home and made it without getting caught and put in jail. Nice story huh? 7. What do each of you guys does for a trade to pay the bills? Karl is a bouncer and partner at a local strip club called the "Diamond Club. I am a Network Administrator / Programmer / Web Designer for a local computer firm, Steve is going to college to be a teacher, Tom is a jobless bum as of right now, and Ed is a full-time nurse. With all that going on, we still find the time to get out and keep on playin. 8. I noticed you had red, white and blue ribbons up on your webpage. How did 9-11 affect you and do you consider yourselves as patriotic? Well, I think that every American was pissed off about that incident and was affected a lot by it. My brother is in the military and I have a lot of respect for anyone who is willing to put their life on the line for their country and our freedom. We are a very patriotic band. After 9-11 we had American flags at our shows and still sport the flag on our van. I think everyone is patriotic after all that has gone down in recent years and especially now. 9. What's your least favorite thing about HC right now? The whole "toughguy" thing. I remember when it was an insult to be called toughguy. Now kids today strive to be labeled that and try to be the baddest at the shows to get a rep. I think its so lame if you have to act tough for people to fear you. If you have to do that, then you are a lame wanna-be loser who gets laughed at by all the real hardcore kids out there. Respect is earned and not by beating people up or dancing hard. Its earned through the friendships you have a respect you show to others around you. Of course if you have to stand up for yourself, you do, but afterwards you don't go talking about it to people or on the computer to hype yourself or your crew up. The whole idea is to not say anything about it. If you are that "tough" people will know who you are anyway. Its all lame. 10. NFL, who's going to take it all in 2002? Well, who knows. I say the Raiders. I though the Eagles were gonna take it all, but that got me real far 11. Is the full-length Show and Prove still in print and if so, how can people get their hands on it? Show and Prove is still in print. It was a year old and the end of January and we have sold a shitload of copies. You can order the cd directly through us at our website -> http://www.strengthforareason.com . 12. What's the best way for folks to get in touch with SFAR? For people that want to book us or just shoot us an email, you can contact us by going to our website at www.strengthforareason.com. Here you will find all our contact info. You can email us a band@strengthforareason.com as well. 13. Thanks for the interview guys, last word is to you. Well, first off, thanks to you for giving us the interview. I appreciate it. I would also like to that James at Thornz , the BFL Family, and my brothers in Nanticoke Straight Edge. Special thanks goes out to all the kids that support us, hardcore, and this zine. Keep hardcore true and real. Stay True! Peace.