Here is an interview I conducted with Jeremy D Smith, guitar player from Plagued With Rage/Halfmast and singer of Modern Problems. I would like to thank Jeremy not only for participating in this interview, but also for bringing such awesome music to the straight edge hardcore scene for over 20 years.
Where are you from?
I was born and raised in North Tonawanda, NY, which is a city of about 30k people roughly 14 miles north of Buffalo. It’s the southernmost city in Niagara county (Buffalo is in Erie county) so technically it’s a suburb of Niagara Falls. After living in the city of Buffalo of and on for years; these days I live in a more rural Village with my family called east Aurora, Which is about 20 miles from Buffalo.
How did you get into hardcore music?
My first love was heavy metal, with smatterings of The Ramones, Sex Pistols and Devo from my uncles who used to babysit me in the early 80’s. By 1989 I was full into and going to thrash metal shows. I started checking out crossover bands like DRI and COC, then in 1990 a kid named Blake who lived in my neighborhood played me the “Where the Wild Things Are” NYHC comp and that was that, I was hooked.
How did you find Straight Edge?
In 1991 I was starting to distance myself from the metal dudes I knew, or rather, the kids who weren’t “evolving” in any way, shape or form. I wasn’t into smoking or drinking, the idea of lying to your parents, going into the woods and getting fucked up every weekend didn’t interest me. Music was a great escape of the banality of suburban life. That’s what I needed, more and more music. There was a scene of people my age making exciting energetic music that I related to once the lyrics of heavy metal seemed a little trite. I was talking about it in 11th grade with a friend of mine, Bob. He got pumped (he’s an excitable, intense kind of guy) and started saying “DUDE! You’re straight edge!” After that, I had a label for what I already was doing anyway. It was pretty cool.
What were some of your favorite straight edge bands in the 90s?
I loved Mouthpiece, Unbroken, the first Chokehold LP, the Earth Crisis 93 demo…The early Strife stuff. It was tough because politically I really didn’t “fit” with a lot of the stuff in the 90’s. No matter what band I liked, I always still felt like an outsider. I wasn't as intense as Chokehold was, well, about like EVERYTHING and I wasn't pro-life or "hyper vegan" like EC was… I wasn't as physically fit or cool as the Mouthpiece guys and I wasn't as good looking as the guys from Unbroken. But I found my niche, also a lot of those dudes on a personal level were very cool to me and never alienated me, but that didn't mean I didn't still feel like I was on the outside looking in at times.
What was your first band? Was xPWRx before Halfmast?
My first band that played shows was called Childish Intent. We were like a crossover band, I guess. We had a lot of metal and punk elements but playing hardcore; mostly we were dorks. We played with Endpoint and Slugfest and stuff. Plagued with Rage and Halfmast were going on simultaneously. Plagued with rage were originally called “Fuck Shit UP” but changed their name after finding out about the Boston Based crew FSU in 94. I had told Jay about the name “Plagued with Rage” that I came up with on the way home from a DropDead basement show we went to in the summer of 1993 (we walked 15 miles home) he remembered it, said he liked it and asked to use the name. That was before I was in PWR.
Childish Intent band photo, cassette and show flier.
How did you join Halfmast? how about xPWRx?
I joined Halfmast in the late summer on 1993 as Childish Intent was breaking up. I had heard that they were looking for a new guitar player and I gave them a call. At that point I was writing faster hardcore songs and wanted to do that style. They were much, much heavier before I joined. My little brother and Jay, who was also in PWR joined up shortly after. Plagued With Rage, well, Jay and my brother, used to REALLY jump around many times (on Jay’s part) far too much to hold the song together. They asked Nick, the singer of Halfmast to play guitar, but he could barely play, so they asked me, as I knew them all9 and were related to two of them!) and that was that. I quit that band all the time though, mostly out of stubbornness.
What bands did you play shows with in your time with Halfmast and xPWRx?
Ohh geez umm… Chokehold, Burst of Silence, Slugfest, Against All Hope, Snapcase, Envy (the good one from buffalo), Redline, Fadeaway, Slowpoke, Turning Point (reunion), Endpoint, Ignite, Earth Crisis, Despair, Cleanser, Glassjaw, Silent Majority, 108, Strife, A Chorus of Disapproval, Mouthpiece, Conerstone, Unbroken, Undertow, Ricochet, XeverlastX, Harvest, Brother’s Keeper, Hatebreed, 25 ta Life, Abnegation, Chisel, Birthright, Spawn, Moment of Truth… Race Traitor, to name more than a few!
Many people have only bad things to say about the xPWRx 7” (illogical to me, as its one of my favorite records), why do you think this is?
Because we were kids and the recording is pretty bad? I dunno, we were from a time very few bands were trying to play traditional style SxE hardcore so we were really trying to “figure it out.” Also, we weren’t like, cool, AT ALL.
Why did Halfmast last longer than xPWRx?
Jay moved to Chicago and was the main force behind PWR but only played drums in halfmast, so Halfmast got a new drummer and PWR broke up.
What is your favorite release from either band?
For Halfmast it’s the “Status” cassette for plagued with rage it’s the “I won’t Forget” demo.
How did xPWRx end? How about halfmast?
PWR ended when Jay moved. Halfmast ended when Nick and I got into a fight during our last tour. He jumped through a screen door trying to get to me, it was impressive. We’re friends now again, but it was weird for a few years.
What was the straight edge scene like in buffalo during the era?
A lot of kids, though not necessarily into what we were doing at the time. The vegan mosh thing was at its peak so it was a hard fought battle for us to gain traction. Envy were probably the best SxE band at the time. They had some great shows.
Upstate NY has always been a breeding ground for great straight edge hardcore, do you think that there is any particular reasoning?
The old rev bands used to make Buffalo a constant weekend and tour stop, so I think that just etched itself here. There wasn’t a first wave of Straight Edge in Buffalo.
After Halfmast and xPWRx, what bands were you in?
No Reason with my brother, who sang for PWR, The Control, Dead Hearts, Reason, Old Ghosts and now Modern Problems.
Talk a bit about your new band Modern Problems?
Modern Problems is a more traditional straight edge hardcore punk band I sing in. We’re rooted in a little more melodic OC/ DC style. We have a couple of tape EPs and a 7” out and an LP called “Foolish Times” which has all of our recordings (the demo 7”, Foolish Times EP and Identity EP) coming out on Not Like You Fanzine’s label this year, We will have copies at the King of the Monsters fest we’re playing with Los Crudos and Infest and at our Fuller, CA show in August.
Are you still straight edge?
Of course, it’s a commitment for life, nothing less.
What are you up to these days? family, career etc.
I work as the security director of a private college (been here 6 ½ years) I got into security management when I was the director of security at a food corporation’s world headquarters, but campus security is MUCH more my style. I live in the suburbs with my wife and three children andt’s pretty chill.
Any last comments?
Sure, there’s some cool stuff going on if buffalo right now: Malfunction, New Vision, Black X, Pissing Match… Even Rhinoceros is back. There are new bands like Burn Book and Reverie and even more new bands starting everyday it seems. It’s a great time to be involved and to get involved.
To download the Plagued With Rage Discography: Click Here
No comments:
Post a Comment