Greg Mental Interview pt. 2 (Early days of Lockin Out)

Here's where it starts to get a little more nuggety, tracing the Lockin Out story. I was most stoked on the Stop and Think anecdotal then, and re-reading it, it's still really cool. For context, check out part 1 here. 

Part 2

Lockin Out was established as a means to release the Mental EP (And You Know This)...was there intention to turn it into a full-blown record label?

At the time, we weren't trying to associate with anyone. We kinda wanted to create our own lane. That's why we decided to release it on our own...on Lockin Out. Really, I just put "Lockin Out" on the back of the Mental record because it sounded cool. After releasing the Mental record, I realized "oh, this isn't that hard to do." So I did it for one friend's band, and then another friends band, so on and so on. Then it became what it is now...

Did you have a "blueprint" for how you wanted it to go?

I definitely worship the early Revelation stuff and tried to make it like that...and still do.

Maybe it's just revisionist history, but Lockin Out kind of represented an overall sea-change for what hardcore could be. It was very different from the current climate. How did that influence your decisions?

We did feel some of that. That's why we wanted to release our own record. We wanted to do something new. We loved NYHC and just old hardcore in general and it seemed like all the bands around at the time weren't playing hardcore. They were playing some other shit, but not like the shit we were into. Song structure? Lyrics? Nothing like we were into. Except maybe Stop and Think. That's why I love that band. They sounded like what a hardcore band should sound like to me.

Without Words

The age old, English professor question I guess. "What is hardcore?" Some see it as a medium for change or politics, for others it's like being in a junior indie rock band. 

I just look at it as a way to release aggression. I don't think it will change anything in the world nor do I think it should. It's cool and keeps kids out of trouble and maybe some of the messages can help kids with some personal issues, but as far as changing the world, nah. Fuck all that! (laughs).

So you run Lockin Out from your house...

Oh yeah. I got a big dirty closet full of all sorts of Lockin Out shit. It is very bare bones. It's a DIY hardcore label man! (laughs).

Yeah, I guess I'm asking if it's financially stable. Do you have to supplement Lockin Out much with your own money?

Lockin Out usually supports itself, but sometimes I have to throw some money into it. I usually make a little bit of money, break even or lose a little money off of my releases, so at the end of the day overall, I break even. When I'm hit with multiple releases at once, I usually need to give some money to the label from my pocket, but it's worth it. I feel like at the end of the day I'm doing my part to support what really helped me out when I was younger: hardcore.

Who's been instrumental in getting it off the ground?

I wouldn't have been able to do it without my boy AJ. He was like a mentor or manager to me, and still is. Joey C was a big influence to keep me motivated just by seeing the way he was about motivation and dedication to getting shit done. The dude has a work ethic, and so do I, but he really made me realize what hard work will yield. Same with AJ. That dude would get up at like 6 AM to run hills when he was boxing. That shit makes you feel like you can be doing more. Hard work is the key to success in anything. Anyone who does a label or a zine or anything really, they all know it can't be done without a lot of hard work. If you look at the shit we did and still doing, you know it doesn't just happen on its own.

Who helps out now?

Alex is my ace right now for packing orders and all that bullshit. AJ always has my back when I need help. Money, rides, favors...anything. Chucky Edge is the OG Lockin Out Records employee. If he's in town and I need help, he's always there for me. Honestly though, it's mostly just me.

Do you have any conscious intentions of making Lockin Out "bigger?"

It's slowly growing and evolving, but I like the pace I'm going now because I can handle it. If I bit off any more I wouldn't be able to chew it, you know? Plus, I like being involved in every step. I like going to the studio for recordings. I like to be there when the record is mastered. Realistically, I can only really keep going at the same pace I've always been going. I think if I wanted it to get bigger I'd have to starter cranking out stuff and the quality would go down. That's the most important thing to me. The quality of the releases that I've put out, and will continue to put out. I'd eventually like to get more T-shirts for bands and things like that on the site, but again I'm super picky about shit. If it's not the HOTTEST shirt the band ever made, then I don't wanna put it on my site.

I see some labels putting stuff on iTunes. Keeping it in circulation that way.

I might re-release some stuff on iTunes, but that's probably it.

Missed Part 1? Read it here. 

Art/Layout from Drug Dogs #1

Greg Mental Interview pt. 1 (Mental broke up, U2 did not)

I'm sure at some point I've probably said something stupid like "I'll never post my paper zine interviews online" and "blogs are killing zines" and "everyone younger than me is dumb" etc. etc. Time and experience tend to iron out the craggiest of crags and well...here we are. I still think that zines and blogs aren't interchangeable entities, but I've also loosened up on my stance that blogs have no merit (obviously). They do. They're accessible, and I do this for the working man. The monkeys with computers doing SEO and copywriting and whatnot. Those who spend more time in front of a computer than they do with their children and families. 

I'm going to bleed in some of my old Drug Dogs interviews little by little since they'll likely never be re-printed in their original form (never say never though) and you know what? I'm proud of them. I'd like people to see them. Know your history and whatnot. I've seen a few zines and podcasts go up with Greg in them recently, and maybe I'd just like to throw my hat in that ring.

Drug Dogs zine was my attempt at making a "good zine" (i.e. the kind of zine I'd want to read) and not just reprinted garbage from the internet. I'd made a crappy zine before (In Low Carb) that lasted 10 issues and NO ONE read it because it just wasn't very good, and Drug Dogs was going to change all that. It was all done by hand, illustrated and with photo contributions by a guy I met on B9 named James Campbell and the writing was heavily influenced by Hardware and Bullshit Monthly. It was also released during one of hardcore's "rebuilding" years (2009) when it seemed like all of the good bands from "my" era were disappearing and it was my first real experience dealing with "younger" people and bands now dictating the direction of where things would go. (Predictably: when I was first going to shows, I was constantly told how much better everything was in the 90's, how much "realer" and punker it all was and how me and my group of bafflewit chat-room yahoos were going to ruin it all, so...you know). Personal biases accounted for, I feel like 2007-2010 represented a particularly "dry" era in hardcore when there were very few exciting new bands, few good zines, and a whole lot of derivative shlock. I was a huge fan of Trapped Under Ice's 7"s and full-length, as well as Bad Seed's stuff because to me, moshy hardcore was JUST about to become over-saturated when those hit but that style was still kinda in a sweet spot. Also, not withstanding any cred I may get for saying, TUI just wrote great stand-alone songs...but this is all for another post. It was also where I saw the "fests" starting to become a core staple which was exciting then, but seems kind of silly now, and we see how far it's come already.  I guess I'll call it an "interesting" time to be diplomatic, and one the bebs will probably remember a lot more fondly than me. 

Anyway, this Mental interview was conducted over the course of several weeks. Lockin Out hadn't really done much in a while (as you'll see later on in the interview) and more than anything, I was still kind of mourning the loss of Mental (in a Trumbull Escapades blogpost that's no longer on the internet) Morgado summarized the "Lockin Out Era" as the time period between Mental's first show and the Planet Mental record release in 2005. If that's the case, then by 2008 we were well into post-after-party status and so now, in 2014, where are we? Revival time? Someone ask someone on that giant ass Lockin Out thread on B9. 

I was a nervous little mark talking to Greg. I had the opportunity to interview him on their tour with Justice, but I was a dumb high school senior and didn't have the wherewithal to make it actually happen (but I did get to see this tour in 3 different cities). He was great to interview, and didn't make fun of me when I asked dumb questions.

This is the web-version, so you aren't getting the FULL EXPERIENCE (i.e. the meticulous hand-layouts I did, and the illustrations which I see getting shared [without my credit] all over Tumblr) but oh well. Does anyone really read words anyway? Here's part 1, where we started things out talking about hisx life post-Mental and about working with U2. Enjoy.

The interview was conducted in 2008 and printed in 2009. Some of the content has likely changed in parts. All illustrated content by me. More to come. Enjoy. 

Was the edge break what killed Mental?

No, that's not why the band broke up. Dookie and I broke edge but the other dudes in the band didn't really give a shit. We were all straight edge when we met and started the band, but none of us were really judgmental like that. We were just straight edge. It wasn't what really defined us as people or as a band. We kept it moving once Dooks and I started being wastoids. The band broke up because Dookie didn't wanna do it anymore. I'm not sure the reason, but it wasn't a problem with any one of us. It was just what he wanted to do with his life at the time. I can't speak for him, but that's the gist of it. When I talked to him about it, I was like "fuck it, let's call it a day." We had a good run and didn't wanna wear it out. I think a lot of bands stay around way too long and don't ever realize it. We had also agreed, way back, that we would never do the band with different members. WE defined the band and all had our own things we contributed, so without Dookie there really was no Mental. We just played our last show at the end of our tour with Blacklisted and Iron Age, which was a ton of fun. There was never any moment where we were playing shows that we didn't want to. When we got to Atlanta it was just like "this will be our last show." We played it and never really thought twice about it.

How have your opinions of straight edge "evolved" since Mental?

I just keep it moving man. It's not anything I consciously think about, but I'm sure a lot has changed. I've grown up a lot, I've learned a lot about "real life" you know? I'm 25 now, not 19. I've been around the world a few times, met some inspirational people and been through a lot of shit. Sure that's changed me some, but I've still got the same heart. I still feel like a fucked up 16 year old kid. I think people who know me well will say I am still the same person.

At the time, I heard so much stuff about what happened after that. I heard some rumor that you were in a band that sounded like Black Sabbath (laughs). There was definitely a lull in Lockin Out activity, right when Mental broke up.

I went away for about a year to work on the crew for Robbie Williams and then U2. It was just a good opportunity. I took a job at a small tech company in Massachusetts and they basically taught me all this shit in a month or so, then sent me off on the road. They hired me based on my experience from touring with Mental and shit, not so much my technical experience. I still work with those dudes, I don't plan on doing a tour any time soon, but I have to go to a lot of shows to set things up. I'm finishing this interview from the production office in Miami for the Jay-Z/Mary J. Blige "Heart of the City" tour.

Working on the U2 crew? Damn. Did you like...meet Bono?

I saw the dudes and met them, but I wasn't hanging out with them or anything like that. Bands on giant tours like that have a whole crew of people working to set up their concert all day and the artists usually roll into the venue an hour or so before they hit the stage. The crew is very tight with each other, but the artists are definitely on another level.

I mean, obviously it's a job not like you were trying to work with U2. Did you have many thoughts on them before hand? Perceptions that were changed after working with them?

They killed it on that tour. I don't fuck with them personally, but I respect the hell out of how gigantic they are. Those dudes are PAID.

Yeah, I mean likely THE most globally recognized band ever. Did anyone give you any flack for it? Some punk flag-wavers or anything ridiculous? 

Nah, no one has ever given me shit, but I doubt many people know or care (laughs). I don't really know what working for U2 has to do with my label. I literally could have been working for anyone in the world. It was just a job. A way to make money. I didn't set out to be on tour with U2 per-se, I just had an opportunity and jumped on it. 

It had to be a shock though, going from touring with Mental and then seeing how these, you know...iPod rock business men are peddling their wares.

It was really touring on that level. Indeed, it was a dramatic contrast to touring around in the Mental van, but I got that job from being able to function at that level of shitty touring.

Final U2 question. I'm not a huge fan, but my Dad likes 'em. I listened to Achtung Baby a lot as a kid. My Dad saw them on the ZOO-TV tour and told me they had the most elaborate stage set-up he'd ever seen. Exploding TV's and paper machete statues and stuff like that...anything cool like that?

Yeah man, they had a crazy set up. Lots of political shit going on, but to tell you the truth I don't think I watched the whole show even one time. Like I said, U2 isn't really my shit. They had a lot of typical political footage like your Dad probably saw. The cool thing about their setup was just that they had these huge Marshall cabinets stacked up, like 100 of them. Maybe more. THAT was the shit that impressed me.

Now that Mental's broken up, can you see yourself ever being in a band again?

I'm still hoping to start a new band, I just don't have time to get it going. For now I'd rather just not say anything about that.

Check out Part 2 here. 

Out for Blood #1 (zine seizure)

Out for Blood is the next step behind the sordid mind(s) putting out Excitement Level Zero and the band Cretins, and announces itself on the cover as a zine that'll "shit-talk."

A great aesthetic and layout, not too different from ELZ really. Unfortunately, I found the John Evicci interview to be kind of softball, which was a bummer because (like the rest of the world) I love Out Cold. No matter because the Jon Westbrook interview picked it back up, tracing Knife Fight's history with a few things nerdy and nuggety here and there, and because the dude is always willing to talk about cool shit from their era and he's not afraid to pontificate on California's weirdness and KF's outcast status.

Honestly though, the zine's real identity lies in its (as suggested on the cover) outspoken reviews. The author has a serious thing against "dangly earring punks" and makes fun of Tumblr almost as much as I do. I'm also a big fan of the term "chain posers" because...who doesn't agree that this is kind of getting out of hand here? Also, I like that he disses The Flex and Obstruct, just because I (still) think it's funny when popular hype bands get shit on, regardless of my own feelings on them. Contrived or genuinely angry, it was an entertaining read, and as anyone who's ever tried to write about music knows, it's way more fun to talk about that which sucks than that which gets your approval. 

I got mine here. By the looks of it, you can too.