By Janelle Jones | Photo by Natalie Wood
With the release of their new 7” split, it was a good time to get some answers about the project from UK’s Broken Teeth and NJ’s The Mongoloids. Below, the two bands discuss this impressive slab of hardcore.
Broken Teeth
Interview with Adam Kelly
How’d this project come about?
We have been friends for a while, playing shows and hanging out. I think it just came up in conversation one day.
You’ve been around as a band for a while now, since 2007. Can you get a little into how it all started and what shaped the sound/direction of the band?
A few of us have been in the band since the beginning and before that friends from school, so we would always be travelling to shows and being involved in hardcore so [we] decided to set something up. The sound has almost changed every record or even song because we get a new guitarist quite often. Hopefully this one will stick around for the ride and we get a solid style together! We all love riffs so that will always be a big influence for us no matter who we get in! Be sure to check out the upcoming full-length.
www.facebook.com/brokenteethmanchesterhardcore
The Mongoloids
Interview with Greg Falchetto
I’m not seeing that you put anything on 6131 before, how’d you hook up with them and who got in touch with you about doing this project?
That is correct. This will be our first release with 6131. I’ve known Joey for quite some time; I’m pretty sure we met in 2008 when The Mongoloids were on tour with Cruel Hand who at the time were on 6131 Records. Joey has always been super cool and supportive of this band if by just coming to our shows and watching us play or putting us on Sound & Fury year after year once he took over doing the festival back in 2010. For years we’ve always spoke about releasing something on his label so as soon as the idea for this split came up I reached out to him to see if he would be interested and that’s sort of how it all came together.
You’re going to the UK for some shows with Broken Teeth to promote/celebrate the record. What are some of your favorite things about touring Europe and more specifically Britain?
Europe as a whole has always treated The Mongoloids very well. The UK specifically was the first place we played in the EU that people legitimately knew lyrics and went off while we played. We made our first trip to the UK the summer of 2008 and this time coming up will be our seventh time touring over there. Some of our wildest shows to date have taken place in England. Our first trip to the UK was also when we made friends with some of the Broken Teeth guys. I love the history you get to see and experience while touring Europe, not to mention visiting different hardcore scenes and getting to see/hear new bands you might not have heard otherwise. Plus, I mean who doesn’t love Sportswear!
I’d seen something saying this release was “in the works” for a while. What was the hold up?
The songs. We were in the midst of writing and recording our LP whilst also trying to work on these songs so we sort of had to put this on hold for a bit, which I’m glad we did because in the end I couldn’t be happier with how our side of the split came out. [It’s] a good mix of sounds I feel that represents us well. Honestly thinking back we initially started discussing the idea of doing this split in about 2010/2011.
Can you give more info about the band, how you guys started and some of the highlights since you’ve been together?
The Mongoloids started in the summer of 2005 with the main intention of just wanting to be a band representing the New Jersey straight edge. That intention remains the same to this day. As soon as we had three songs written and a couple covers learned we started playing out as much as possible. We were all super young at the time and didn’t have any real responsibilities (besides a few of us still being in high school) so there was nothing really holding us back. We’ve had the privilege of touring alongside such bands as Agnostic Front, The Cro-Mags, Sick of it All, Madball, and so many others. We’ve gotten to travel and play shows across the world and more recently even got to take two separate trips to Hawaii, which was insane. We remain to be very fortunate in the things we are privileged to do and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Can you talk about the meaning behind the song “Mountains of Misery”?
“Mountains of Misery” is about a group of people I grew up with that preached a certain way and pushed their lifestyles onto those surrounding them and persecuted all those that didn’t agree or choose to live the same way, just to turn around and become exactly what they once so strongly stood against just years later. At the end of the day I believe what’s most important is to stand by the things you do and say to the fullest extent and not persecute others for making their own minds up on how they want to be. There is nothing worse than proving to be a hypocrite. “The Go Around” is about leaving and going away consistently and seeing everyone at home changing and developing in certain ways while you’re gone. But once you get home and can see things from a closer eye things aren’t always what they may seem. One thing I’ve learned while touring is to appreciate where you are at all times because if you don’t there’s no real reason for being there. Traveling is something not everyone gets the privilege of doing so it’s important to appreciate it while you can.
