These interviews were done many years ago with Travis of SEVERE. Enjoy.
LAND OF MORONS INTERVIEW:
Okay, first off introduce yourself…
travis drake aka the warden aka $ilk Nasty
What has been the biggest influence on getting you into hardcore and the punk scene?
I grew up in southern Alabama throughout the 80’s and 90’s so finding punk was pretty much luck. there were these kids in my school who had a band(this was 94?) that sounded like nirvana but faster,
when we all started high school they all had mohawks and the band sounded like early screeching weasel. I really dug them, and we were all friends and i was really getting bored with grunge/heavy metal.
I moved to Oh in 96 and had zero friends that year, so I just got deeper and deeper into punk music. Harkins(the other singer of KIA) was the first person to turn me onto fast hardcore/grind/etc
and took me to see bands like 9 Shocks Terror and things snowballed from there.
What do you think of the newest blast of scene kids, who take more pride in their clothing as oppose to the music?
at this point in my life i rarely ever go to hardcore shows, unless it’s a friends band so I don’t even know what the newest style is. i thought powerviolence was back in, but i really don’t think you can dress “powerviolence” unless your going for the whole westbay Doomrider look, which I would totally support.
…in the same token, What do you think of the new blast of hardcore kids, starting bands, and putting out records?
I think it’s sick there are so many new bands, but it makes it so hard to keep track of whose good and whose not. it used to be you could tell a band by the record label, but now with so many new labels I don’t even know where to start. usually i wait until someone turns me on to some one killer.
How is Severe going… what do you have coming out, and what do youhave planned for the future?
Severe is cool. Payroll just got out of jail so we should be able to think about geting together again.
we have a demo e.p. out soon on 625Thrash/Give Praise Records, 5 songs on the “Trapped in a Scene” comp Lp on 625.
for the future… if everyone can stay clean we’re going to write a 7″ for 625 and try and get out of the state for a weekend?
How is Severe different from Killed In Action?
pretty different. kia is impossible to do anything with these days because everyone is so fucked up, and all over the place.
the bass player lives in Boston, the other singer lives in cleveland/saint louis/chicago? depending on which girl is paying for the plane ticket, the guitarist was in route to Portland, OR but three oxen drowned trying to forde a river and now you can only talk to him in Azeroth and only if you’ve leveled up enough. the other two? i have no clue what they do.
severe is easy to find… all those dudes are forbidden to leave the State lines, but i have to be in the right mindset to get ready to deal with those dudes. it’s hard to write songs when there are sketchy dudes all around, and so many guns and shit…
With Severe, how do you guys do playing shows…? What is the difference between playing shows with Severe and Killed In Action?
severe played one show and it was tight. someone brought all this fried chicken, and jungle juice and everyone was feeling good.
with killed in action it’s like a fist fight for 20 minutes with everyone getting out every bit of frustration, hate, anger on everyone around them.
With Ohio, and now Pennsylvania… how do the various scenes compare? Is one way better or worse then another one…?
Philly is weird, it’s like Portland light. the scene is divided between old crusty dudes and younger ripper kids,
they don’t go to each other shows or really acknowledge each other. Philly is always 6 months off whatever is currently popular in Portland.
while the ohio scene was so killer a couple of years ago, but you can’t maintain something so sick without people getting burnout or someone getting killed now it’s getting better again.
In your opinion, what are the 3 top bands in hardcore right now… and what do you think makes them stand out?
3 hardcore bands? warzone womyn, tumor feast, & regulations?
WW- all awesome people, all the band members know their shit when it comes to music, and don’t pose, and mantooth is the only reason to read MRR anymore
Tumor Feast- best demo I’ve ever heard, best dudes ever, no one in the band gives a fuck about really anything, and the singer wears sweatpants all year long
regulations only because I can’t think of another hardcore band I’ve listened to in the last 6 months. maybe mind eraser? but they are too slow. razzle dazzle… maybe? that video is damn funny.
Any last words…..stuff to add!?
thanks paul and anyone else that made it this far:
hail discordia!
why havent you played more than one show?
drugs, warrants and repo has this whole illegimete twins thing going on with some rat down south, makes shit hard and no one has come correct with enough $ to make it worth it.
who are you and what do is your purpose?
who wants to know
what kind of influence is Project Pat?
his early albums were a big deal to all of us, & I know especially to payroll who was locked down ya know? the way he illustrates the street life, robbin fools, running the track, dope, all that…it really spoke
to all of us. Pat certainly stood above his peers with his unique delivery and affiliation his with Three Six Mafia it was really something we could all get behind. His musical career and Severe’s
have had a lot of similiarties. Just as his career had reached exciting heights, Pat’s longtime legal skirmishes began to catch up with him(much like Payroll). During the interim period following the
success of Chickenhead(with us the demo), Pat/Payroll struggled with legal problems stemming from a January 2001 parole violation, when police pulled him over for speeding and discovered two revolvers.
On March 13 of that same year, a federal jury found him guilty of two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
He had been on parole for aggravated robbery. Perhaps because of these legal matters, or for whatever reason, Loud/625Thrash continually pushed back the release date for Pat’s/Severe’s album,
Layin’ da Smack Down/Snitch Slaughter. Pat/Payroll served a four year prison sentence for possession of a firearm while on parole. He claims that the fact that the court which sentenced him to
four years in prison was composed entirely of Caucasians(sorry nothing similiar here) and that his music was used as evidence against him led to him receiving an unfair trial.
Hypnotize Minds released a mixtape named Mix Tape: The Appeal to promote such claims.
Pat was released on July 27, 2005, Payroll still is under house arrest
are there any other bands that you think you could rob easily?
punk bands? we dont put on the mask or the load the truck up for broke white kids, we’re busy ya’ know.
what does the t.v. show Americas Most Wanted mean to you?
we don’t look at cops
is there any truth to the rumor that severe forced max ward with threats of violence to put out the 7 inch?
nah max is that main boy
why all the violence and larceny?
why all the huggin and octaves?
whats worse a christian or a snitch?
on the knees or on the phone, anyone who is that pastery soft, needs to get fucked up bad, or robbed and humilated. you have to get through to them some how.
any thank you’s ?
yeah sure
anything to be on the lookout for from severe or anyone else?
silk and freebird got a big thing coming in town, weapons, crack, big electronics, ps3 for half the list…shit like that. as far as punk goes, check out warzone womyn,
they’re boys wit some dudes we fuck with on the weed tip
