INTERVIEW: John Hoffman (Weekend Nachos)

Weekend Nachos just announced plans to record its fourth full length album, "No Idols & No Heroes" at the end of May with a late summer release by Deep Six and Relapse Records. Where is the band planning on recording the new album and who will be at the helm?

We'll be recording with our main man Andy Nelson at Bricktop Studios as always. Andy has recorded pretty much everything the band has EVER released from the original demo tape to the "Watch You Suffer" single. He keeps improving his skills over time and since he's also the guitarist of WN, he knows our sound real well and is a vital human in regards to our recordings. Couldn't be better!

I actually had no idea Andy does all the WN recordings, and you're right about him getting better and better with each release (I also can't wait to see what he did with the Dead In The Dirt LP). Do you think that if you guys recorded with someone that wasn't involved with the band you would get a different (possibly worse) final product with a record?

Dude, the Dead In The Dirt LP is seriously fucking excellent. I heard a rough mix the other day (I know people) and it is going to STUN people. So fucking solid and exciting. And to answer your question, yes, I definitely think that a recording of ours could suffer if it wasn't recorded with Andy...it's just become our comfort zone at this point. Then again, GREAT things can happen when you step outside your comfort zone so i'm not denying the possibility of recording a great record somewhere else....Kurt Ballou would probably "get" us, i think. Dude knows a thing or two about capturing offensive riffage.

How will the songs from the new record compare to the band's older material, especially the newest output from Worthless and the Lack Of Interest split?

Well that's the thing...our sound is always developing into something else. It's always got that Weekend Nachos vibe to it, but we like to have fun and get creative with our songwriting, always. I usually don't say too much about where we're headed but I will say that everything you may or may not love about Worthless and Unforgivable will be present on this recording. However, I will also say that "No Idols & No Heroes" will not remind you of Worthless or the LOI split at all. Every listener will have to decide on whether or not they can hang with where we've traveled, for sure.

Weekend Nachos is no stranger at working with Deep Six and Relapse. What is the relationship like between the band and those labels?

Both are great in different ways. I will say we have a more intimate relationship with Bob/Deep Six (meaning, we have sexual intercourse at times) but the Relapse dudes have always been very supportive as well. They handle an area of marketing the band that we really have no feel for, the metal community is awesome but i'd be lying if i said I didn't kinda rely on Relapse to sorta keep the metalheads "in the know" about what Weekend Nachos is up to. Bob and Deep Six Records are more on our level community-wise so we obviously love working with them too. Really, we just release music with friends that we trust, no more no less. That goes for every label we've ever worked with including A389 Recordings, Cowabunga Records and the sketchy dickwads at Tooth Decay Records. Probably the only label we will NOT miss working with.

You just started a new label yourself, Bad Teeth Recordings, with the first few releases already out or planned. What made you decide to undertake a label and how have you been picking out bands to work with?

Well honestly, I have always been about releasing my own music. Sometimes that happens with friends but I always have a hand in it, so i consider it all the same. I have experience with this sort of thing in the past so I finally decided it was time for Spine to have a debut 7". Honestly there is no better feeling than releasing your own shit. You owe nobody a damn thing that way and you control your own destiny. It's very similar to the idea based around the first Mortal Kombat movie. Shang Tsung will never put out your record so don't even ask him.

In regards to BTR, the Wake Up Dead compilation was a solid release. I know you touched a bit on this in the insert, but how did you go about choosing what bands to put on it?

Thanks, man. The comp got a really solid reaction...I was not sure what to expect but it set out to do exactly what I hoped...get people into good bands that I think are genuine about what they're doing. So that sorta answers your question right there. When I go on tour i pretty much watch every set of every band. That's not to say I deserve some sort of pat on the back because I think that should be pretty standard when it comes to "going to shows", but my point is that that I am exposed to LOTS of bands. Some are alright, some are not so alright, but some of them actually assault me. The bands I chose to put on my comp are bands who I either saw live for the first time in the last year or so or have been friends with for many years and/or have already seen live a bunch of times. I carefully choose who i work with based on integrity, genuinity and morality. And riffs.

I know you've announced releases for Sex Prisoner, a Spine/Repos split, and Wake Up Dead Volume 2. Are there any other releases you're brainstorming just yet?

I've got a few potential ideas in the works...my latest band THE NUKES have recorded a single and i will probably be releasing that as a 45. Also, SIDE FX from Indianapolis are breaking up at the end of the year and I have plans to release a very limited quantity of their final 7", which is being recorded right now! Should be great, that band was fantastic and will be missed by 5-6 people.

After the recording of the new Weekend Nachos album, what does the band have planned?

That's up in the air now...we've kinda slowed down with our touring schedule. 2014 will probably mean us continuing to do more weekend trips, trying to cover as much ground as possible on the East and West Coasts. But really, it's hard to promise anybody an appearance, we're all very busy with our clothing lines.

REVIEW: Heartless - Certain Death (Halo Of Flies, 2013)

In 2011, Heartless came right out of the gate with its punishing Southern Lord debut, Hell Is Other People. The record was 13 tracks of relentless and scathing d-beat-laden hardcore that garnered the band comparisons to Napalm Death and Hatred Surge. After grueling North American and European tours supporting Hell Is Other People, Heartless settled down to write another harsh release, this time putting together the eight-song Certain Death 7”, released by Halo Of Flies Records.

Certain Death leans more in the direction of the band’s metal influences rather than the punk and hardcore influences that aided themselves to Hell Is Other People. While those aspects are still there, the band has a lot of stop-on-a-dime transitions reminiscent of the early grindcore and thrash bands of the 80s that breathe new life into the Heartless sound. The runtime of the 7” also looks like more like a metal record: eight songs in a little over 11 minutes, with only two of the eight tracks failing to break the one-minute mark (“Excess” and “Unhinged”). While the songs may be longer on this release, they keep the attention of the listener while still drawing out some heavier portions such as the latter half of the title track.

Another notable shift in dynamic is the range used by vocalist Cory Smith. Instead of relying solely on his exasperated holler that blended well with the crusty hardcore atmosphere of the band’s prior output, Smith gets pretty low in specific places on Certain Death, adding even more of a bleak and dark layer to the EP.

Heartless comes out swinging on this 7”, which is up for pre-order now through Halo Of Flies. The band will be playing Maryland Death Fest along with Infest, Converge, Iron Lung, Dead In The Dirt, Weekend Nachos, and more this May.

Preorder Certain Death at Halo Of Flies

REVIEW: Title Fight/Touché Amore – Split (Sea Legs, 2013)

To me, cover splits have more or less gone the way of the buffalo in modern hardcore and punk. While there have been a few bangers released in recent memory, they are few and far between. Perhaps the general consensus is that a split where band A covers band B and vice-versa comes off as a bit hokey and trite in this day and age. However, Kingston pop punk juggernaut Title Fight and California screamo giants Touché Amore, along with Sea Legs Records, have gone out on the proverbial limb to test the waters of the cover split.

Side A contains Title Fight taking on Touché Amore’s “Face Ghost” from the 2011 album Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me, released by Deathwish Inc. The band takes the song and crafts it into a serpent-like shoegaze song that would fit perfectly into a Title Fight set list, slinking its way through the speakers. Bassist Ned Russin takes the lead on vocals, changing the original vocal attack of Jeremy Bolm and submitting his own simple croon which carries well with the chilled out arrangement by the rest of the band.

Side B is Touché Amore’s interpretation of “Crescent Shaped Depression” from Title Fight’s 2011 Side One Dummy debut, Shed. Much like side A, Touché Amore does a fine job of taking the song and turning it into its own. While a bit slower and stripped down than usual TA material, the band keeps the song light and really highlights the guitar leads throughout the two-and-a-half minute venture. Bolm harshens up the vocals a bit, abandoning any melody laid out by Title Fight in the original cut of the song, but that is what aids the band in giving the track the screamo treatment.

While the release is short, almost hitting the five minute mark, the gutsy move of releasing a cover split in 2013 has proven to be a success for Title Fight and Touché Amore. Who knows, maybe more bands will take that chance and release similar records in the future.

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Gregg