Depending on who you ask (and their answer is usually biased by whichever coast they reside closest to), hardcore as we know it began in 1976 when both Bad Brains from Washington D.C. and The Middle Class from Orange County, CA released their debut 7 inches (Pay To Cum and Out of Vogue respectively). If my math is correct, and may be wrong because math was never my strongsuit, hardcore as an offshoot of punk has been pummeling the world for thirty-five years. That's a long fucking time. Over the last three and a half decades, the world as we know it has changed several times over due to wars, politicians, social acceptances, and technology. As the world has turned, hardcore has done its best to provide an unabridged, unbridled narrative on the bare bones of the world seen through the eyes of the young and outcast. The result has been a legacy of records that capture positive, negative, violent, and insightful feelings unlike any other genre of music has been capable of doing.
While we as world are all still incredibly fucked in 2011, it is rather easy to participate in hardcore these days. The internet has made this vast country a much smaller place, allowing bands to book tours easier and kids to make friends or talk shit via websites. Communities and parents have started to see that punk and hardcore can be a positive thing in the lives of their children, and all ages venues in unconventional places have started to spring up and thrive in ways they never have before. Real venues and clubs see a young subculture with money and have been much more open to booking hardcore shows and bands. These are all good things. But there's a problem...
For the most part, bands have gotten stagnant. Kids have seen bands rise out of the hardcore scene and to mainstream success and have now started bands with the hopes of becoming full time rockers. This notion was ridiculous to think about in the 80s, and really even in the 90s. Conversely, there's a side of the scene so concerned with keeping hardcore hardcore that they can't move beyond the basic musical formulas laid out before them; making entire careers out of raping nostalgia and manufacturing emotions and situations that are completely impossible to recreate in 2011 due to times changing. It's kind of disheartening to see what was once a genre so on the cutting edge, driven on "not giving a fuck" and "fucking shit up" become a just another "look" for teenagers to pick up on.
The Love Below are a rare band of dudes trying to make the most noise and lay waste to whatever is in their way. They have no aspirations of headlining the Warped Tour, nor are they so stuck in mentalities of decades gone by that they are unable to progess. The Love Below play doomy, filthy, sleazy hardcore that at times evoke aspects of bands like Neurosis, Charles Bronson, Black Flag, and His Hero Is Gone. Frontman Jerry Woolbright is an old friend and partying pal, and he and I recently caught up regarding all things TLB.
FF: How long has The Love Below been around, and what lead to you guys starting the band?
JW: We've been jamming since mid 2008, I believe. Greg and myself were in a band called Neon Claws that had fizzled out after 3 shows. I was tired of being in bands with people who weren't really dedicated to things like touring or recording. Anthony and I had been friends for a long while. I was a ginormous fan and friend of his band Motherspeed, and I've always really respected how fucking hard the guy works on his bands. It just made sense to pool our efforts to do something cool together as friends, and see if it goes anywhere. Low and behold, its 2011 and I couldn't be happier with where we are right now.
FF: Aside from the new split with Homewrecker, what else have you put out?
JW: In 2009 we released our demo. It got a pretty good response online around the time that Mike Hellfish (http://www.hellfishfamily.com) started packing them into t-shirt orders at his merch company...we owe that guy big time. Anyway, I guess word of mouth was good enough that it got to Dom from Pulling Teeth, probably because we cited Pulling Teeth as an influence. Who Knows? Anyway, he was stoked on our demo and offered us a home at his A389 Records label which lead to our Reproductive Rights EP in 2010.
FF: You guys have done some US tours. Were those easy to book?
JW: That's definitely an Anthony (guitarist) question. All I can say is that he has a tremendous talent for that sort of thing.
FF: What's the best show The Love Below has ever played?
JW: Without a doubt, it has to be the A389 Records showcase back in January with Haymaker, Dropdead, Rot In Hell, and Integrity, or This Is Hardcore 2010 when we got to share the stage with Ringworm and the Cro Mags. So far though, I really love playing New Jersey and Baltimore.
FF: What's the worst show The Love Below has ever played?
JW: Columbus Ohio at some crust punk house. The kids who ran the house were really fucking rude and acted like they didn't want us there from the get go. They also wouldn't let us drink beer anywhere near their house. Nobody watched us except this dude from Penis Geyser.
FF: Who are some of your favorite bands out right now?
JW: I've been really into this band called Fleeting Joys lately. But as far as current hardcore stuff goes: Product of Waste, those guys are the real deal. The Mistake, Pulling Teeth,Seven Sisters of Sleep, Caulfiend, Beartrap, Children Of God. Also, the new Haymaker band, just put out a 7" on A389called "Survival Prayer" and I've been rocking that when I'm in especially foul moods.
FF: Due to the rise in technology and what can be seen as a decline in the legitimacy of the music industry, being in a subculture related band much easier. How has this helped The Love Below, if it has?
JW: I accept that without the internet, we'd have a much smaller fanbase. And I don't care if people illegally download our music as long as they listen to it. Although it would be an appropriate gesture to support these labels and bands if you truly believe in what they are doing.
FF: Even in the wake of the music industry regressing, a lot of bands in hardcore start up with the intention of making it "big" versus just being a creative/artistic outlet. Has The Love Below encountered this much in your existence?
JW: I have friends in bands like that. They usually wind up doing lame pay to play gigs at shitty bars in LA. I honestly don't know why they make music if that's their only motivation. I really don't encounter a lot of that in hardcore though. You'd have to be really up your own ass to think you're going to make it in that kind of business playing aggressive music. The only people who buy records anymore are country fans. Probably because they are too fucking stupid to use the internet.
FF: I notice that you guys often have trouble booking shows in Southern California. How is it that you've made it across the country and onto A389, but aren't getting recognition at home?
JW: There are local venues who are afraid that their shows won't oversell tickets if they let a "slightly lesser known" band open... Unless the people in said band work at the venue. Then it's a different story. Short form answer: Politics, bro.
FF: What does the rest of 2011 hold for The Love Below?
JW: Other than a handful of California shows in the summer... We're putting the finishing touches on a full length LP titles "Every Tongue Shall Caress", as well as an untitled EP. Can't confirm an actual release date on either at the moment, all I can say with any certainty is "SOON". There has also been talk about doing a short tour in October. We'll just have to see, I guess.
FF: Any last words/parting shots/shout outs???
JW: Just to Mike at Hellfish and Dom at A389. I'd like to encourage anyone with any interest in our band to support these guys and their labels/businesses because they believe in and support us. Without them, we're just four dickheads sweating in a garage with our drunk friends cheering us on.
The Love Below/Homewrecker split recently came out on A389 Records. We highly reccommend copping that not only because the jams are sweet, because it gives us hope that hardcore isn't become what it started out despising.
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