NEWS: City Of Thornz and Saydee's Kitchen

it is with a heavy heart that i announce on behalf of the City of Thornz crew that War All The Time will NOT be able to play the Davao City leg of the tour for various reasons. the shows in Lucena, Bulacan, and Manila, however, will push through. much luck to WATT and their thrash fucking madness.

there will still be a show however, but this has been moved from November 26 to first week of December. announcements shall be posted soon enough. also, we will soon be selling merch from C.O.T. bands, Anxiety To Hysteria, As A Whole, Damosa Crew, and Caitlyn Bailey. there will be shirts, bar pins, and other stuff soon, so wait for it.

on a more serious note, Peter from As A Whole and a few select individuals are going on a DIY feeding campaign called Saydee's Kitchen. the aim of the project is to provide free vegetarian meals to people who desperately need them, particularly the young and elderly among the lower rings of the economic ladder. we will be doing everything ourselves from preparation to delivery, so if you want to help, we strongly encourage you to do so. we need people who are willing to help us get vegetables from the markets, and people who are willing to help us prepare the food ourselves. this project is non profit, but the rewards are limitless. a little time to spare could mean a potential life saved, so let's all get out of our seats and try to give something back to the community.

any questions about C.O.T. and Saydee's Kitchen may be sent to Peter at 09107843815. you may also reach us at the official Limp Cat Productions e-mail at annakorsakoff@gmail.com (i run that email account, btw)

that would be all for now, updates soon.

Brother and Sisterhood, one family

that's me in the very left.

starting today, As A Whole, the As A Whole Collective, Anxiety To Hysteria, Damosa Crew, Caitlyn Bailey, and incidentally, Limp Cat productions and e-zine have banded together to form the City Of Thorns crew. now, what's with the name? and what do we stand for?

first off, City Of Thorns stands as a name representative of Davao City's primary export, the Durian. it is symbolic of our solidarity as residents of DC, one fruit with many seeds on the inside, with spikes on the outside to protect it from harm. (long story for a fucking fruit, right?)

anyway, as a whole (no pun intended, pete), we stand to promote a positive lifestyle exemplified by the unity and brotherhood of punk rock. we exist primarily to empower the local hardcore scene in DC and to extend opportunities to all who choose to be in it. we plan to organize shows, do some minor tours, invite some bands to play in our city, and provide other services such as DIY recordings, self-released records, bar pins, shirts, and other stuff to keep the fire burning.

look forward to more news from us.

xDxCxHxCx

Ampere interview

in another one of my random myspace message runs, i came across Massachusetts-based punk band, Ampere's page and asked them for an interview. being nice guys (and girl) and all, they said yes.

here's that interview:

1. what is your name, and what do you do in the band?

stephen: my name is stephen, and i yell about things.

2. everybody on earth probably knows that Massachusetts gave birth to a lot of awesome hardcore/punk bands. how did you get into the scene? what were some of the important events that led you to where you are now?

stephen: it all started for me when i was 11 and a family friend who was a few years older than me made me a tape of screeching weasel and nofx. that somehow lead to bands like conflict & flux of pink indians - two bands which probably shaped my ideology more than anything else up to that point - all that, after a long and winding road, brought me to where i am in life right now. i'm not sure that brendan, the kid who got me into punk, knows just how much he changed my life. i think the first MA bands i got into were the ones that were playing every weekend in the mid-90s.. the trouble, :30 seconds over tokyo, august spies, etc... i was into the proletariat instantly, but it took me until a little later in life to realize how brilliant an album "this is my world" by the jerry's kids is.

3. how and when did you actually start playing together? where did you all come from? and whatever happened to Orchid and Montcalm?

stephen: i have a hard time actually pinpointing the exact moment that ampere was conceived, but andy & i had been playing together prior to ampere in a band called the last forty seconds, and we lived together. we moved from that house in northampton to a house in amherst with will & meghan - i can't really remember if ampere started right before or right after we moved in, but it was definitely around that time. it kind of started as just a fun little fuckaround project, since we were all still involved with other bands at that point - myself with montcalm, andy with wolves, will with orchid & bfot, and meghan with unicoroner.. gradually, those bands reached their ends and ampere gradually became the main band we were all in. and i'm not really sure, myself, what happened with montcalm. it wasn't like orchid, where there were planned "final shows" - i guess you could say it just sort of fizzled out. we weren't the most organized band in the world, but what punk band is?

4. musically, how do you come up with the kind of stuff you write? what stuff do you guys usually listen to?

stephen: will usually comes up with a handful of guitar parts & riffs, brings it to practice, and it gets honed into whatever it ends up as... i usually can't write lyrics while at practice, it helps for me to have a tape that i can rewind and write to.. so, most of my contributions to the band don't occur at the same time as everyone else's. also, i've lived in brooklyn for the past year, so i don't always make the 5 hour bus ride to practice... usually, my lyrics are directly influenced by whatever i happen to be reading at the time. i can't speak for anyone else in the band, but these days i usually find myself listening to bands like jawbreaker, hickey, the replacements (and bands that sound like the replacements), leatherface, crimpshrine... you know, rough-edged melodic punk... current-day bands like dear landlord, monikers, off with their heads, the measure, ringers; and i recently discovered a love for bands like that from japan, mostly the urchin, blotto, i excuse, the miscasts, etc... and a lot of '80s japanese hardcore like death side, gauze, systematic death, lsd, the list goes on. and i think that daniel striped tiger put out one of the best records of the year with capital cities.

5. Ampere always stood to a lot of its fans as a band that would epitomize the DIY ethic, what would you personally want to say about the state of DIY at the moment within MA, and across the United States in general?

stephen: i'm not the most connected with the massachusetts diy community these days, but feel so incredibly positive about the brooklyn punk community. i've been lucky enough to fall into company with some pretty incredible kids at a pretty incredible four-story apartment in bed-stuy where we're able to have shows a few times a month... in a city where most people are off on their own thing and lacking much regard to any sort of community, i consider myself incredibly lucky to have surrounded myself with such productive and inspiring people who are definitely working towards a similar end as i am.

as far as on a national scale, i feel like we who put shows together should focus our energy towards helping bands out as much as possible - particularly those from overseas. having toured internationally a few times, i can say that the most noticeable difference from touring america is that bands are fed before or after every single show. touring isn't always something that bands can recoup money from, so it's nice to not have to dig into pocket to eat. i recognize that the infrastructure for the venues in europe is markedly different than that of those in america, but i think that with a little organization, it shouldn't be difficult to provide similar amenities to touring bands as we have been afforded in other countries.

6. each individual has varying stances on social and political issues, would you care to share some of your personal advocacies with us at Limp Cat?

stephen: i don't think that there is any singular answer for how life should be lived; it's up to the individual of course, and certain things that work for some people wouldn't for others - i'm not too big on pushing my beliefs on anyone, but for what it's worth, one of the small things that i have chosen to do with my life in hopes of making the world a better place is to practice veganism. again, i know it's not for everyone, but it works for me & makes me feel good - both physically, and about affecting some sort of change, however small as it may be, in the world. i guess you could say on a political scale i would fall into the "radical left" pigeonhole. and, further, i believe very strongly that business has absolutely no place in punk rock. i hope that it's evident through how we conduct ourselves as a band that we all subscribe to this belief & hope to lead by example.

7. i read somewhere that you have been described as non-stop touring machines. how does it feel being on the road, and would you happen to have any interesting tour stories to share?

stephen: as much as i often say that i would love to be on tour all the time, the idea of having somewhere to go home to and relax or decompress or whatever is a very nice idea. i am in love with the romanticism of travel and the notion of home being wherever i am at any given moment, but after a while i sometimes find myself ending up homesick or lovesick or simply tired of being around other people 24/7. i think that we, as a band, have it worked out pretty well. we tour often enough that i don't have to wait an eternity before going on the road again, but with enough time off in between tours to not get sick of the routine and of each other... and to keep on viewing tour as something special, rather than the normality of everyday life. a lot of times, i'll also get my fill of travel by going out independently in between tours to visit friends in other places. this is something that i have in the past year or so rediscovered a love for.

all of my favorite tour stories tend to blend together - it's all a convoluted mess in my head of inspiring people i've met, ridiculous nights after shows, unique places... when we were in kobe, japan, a bunch of us went to the public baths when the show ended. it was the most relaxing thing i've ever experienced, i think. afterwards, andy and i slept on the roof of the building in which we played. and that's my favorite recent tour experience.

8. do you have any personal messages you want to leave for anybody who might be reading this interview in the near future?

stephen: everyone should pick up these records: ringers "detention halls" lp, daniel striped tiger "capital cities" lp, the measure (sa) "union pool" 7", new bruises "goodbye, middle class" 7", and trade me the jawbreaker "chesterfield king" 12" and hickey lp. and read more books.

Phoenix Bodies interview

it was really late the other night when i got the proverbial horn up my ass and decided to feign productivity for the sake of Limp Cat. i shot out random messages to bands on the Caitlyn Bailey (the band, not the person) friend list, and among those who replied was Derek of Indiana band, Phoenix Bodies.

here's the interview:

1. what is your name and what do you do for the band?

Hello! My name is Derek. I write lyrics and yell into microphones.

2. this is way too cliche in hardcore interviews, but what could you guys say about your scene? how about indiana? i mean, what's it like over there?

Indiana is pretty cool. I'm going to see some local bands, Medusa and Worldeater, tonight that I really like. Medusa is some guys from Racebannon's (who are also from Indiana, and I saw the other night with Melt Banana) new band. They play really heavy, but short and catchy rock songs, and are really fun to see live. Worldeater are another new band from Indianapolis. They play fast punk/powerviolence stuff, and are really tight and raging. There are a bunch of great bands from this place, and usually a lot of good shows going on here. So, I'd say the scene is allright. I book shows in town kind of often. I have Black Cross coming up here in a few days. Louisville is only a 2 hour drive away from where I live in Indianapolis, so Coliseum, Lords, Young Widows, and all those bands come up here all of the time. I also book a big annual fest in town called Dude Fest that is always a great time. Pig Destroyer came and played this year, and it ruled. A few other awesome bands from Indiana are The Dream is Dead, Black Arrows of Filth and Impurity, Demiricous, In the Face of War, Rapider Than Horsepower, You Will Die, and Illithed. That is just a very short list too.

3. do you guys like beef?

Some of us are into it, some of us are not. Actually, we can all get down on a good cheeseburger from time to time, except for Colin the token vegan guy in the band.

4. on a more serious note, how and when did Phoenix Bodies come together? what bands did you guys play in before this?

We've all played in other bands together before. We have a different line-up right now than when we started, but Kevin and I started playing in bands together about 10 years ago, none of those were that good, but right before Kevin joined Phoenix Bodies we played in a band called Holy Bible that we both liked a lot. Colin and I have been in bands together for about 7 or 8 years. I met him when I joined his band, Mara'akate in 1999 or 2000. Colin and Thomas used to be in a band called Hospital before Phoenix Bodies started. That band was really cool. Jared from The Dream is Dead was in that band, along with Adam, our former 2nd vocalist. I think they broke up in about 2001 or 2002, when Jared quit to do TDID full time. Brian our drummer has been a friend of mine for a while. One time Kevin and I tried to start a band with him that didn't really work out for some reason, but now we're all in Phoenix Bodies and it is great.

5. musically, for lack of a better term, you guys play fast, chaotic hardcore. what stuff do you guys usually listen to? what did you guys listen to back when you were starting this band? lastly, what do you guys think of your own music?

Right now we all still listen to a lot of different stuff. Today I was just listening to The Wayward and Shitstorm. Colin is always rocking stuff like Animal Collective, The Rachel's and AIDS Wolf.
Thomas and I used to live together and he would always listen to Bright Eyes when he took showers, but he's really into stuff like Torche and Black Cobra as well. We all pretty much love old gravity records stuff like Clikitat Ikatowi and Universal Order of Armageddon. Kevin loves the Fucking Champs and Psychic Paramount, and Brian listens to all of that stuff and more. Back when the band started, I think it was birthed out of us jamming a lot of Creation is Crucifixion and Forcefedglass. Just loud, crazy music. I don't really think a lot about, or listen to our own music. I just know that it is fun to play.

6. what exactly pops into your heads whenever one of you ends up naked at shows? how often does this happen?

It happens a lot. It's usually pretty funny. We either take our own clothes off or someone helps us. I don't really know how to explain the phenomenon beyond that.

7. would it be awkward to say i love you guys on more levels than just a guy who listens to your records and stares at your pictures for hours on end?

Yeah, probably, but you live on the other side of the planet, so we shouldn't get too worried should we?

8. touring is a major part of being a band in general, would you guys happen to have any interesting stories from any of your previous tours?

Every single day has it's own long story behind it. We've played so many weird shows in weird places, I could easily fill up a book with lots of stories. At our first shows ever, I got stranded in Detroit when my car broke down, and at the last show we played a human pyramid was built and an acoustic guitar was smashed and destroyed by the crowd. We've been put up in giant mansions for the night, kept up all night by crazy parties, and had to sleep outside in the hot
Florida sun in July. Tour is full of both fun and miserable times. It is really great to go out and see the world and meet different people from different places though. So it is really worth all of the trouble.

9. on touring again, do you have plans of playing in southeast Asia anytime soon? we'd love to have you guys here.

We would really love to come to that area. Our friends in Hewhocorrupts are doing that next year. So go see them if you can. We don't really tour a whole lot, but we'd love to make a trip there sometime.

10. last question, how do you guys get those perpetually spartan figures, and just how did you grow all of that awesome facial hair?

Lots of sweet tea, video games, and occasional bike riding keeps us in shape. Being lazy and not shaving puts hair on our faces.

Southeast Asian Tours to look forward to

WAR ALL THE TIME (UK)


War All The Time from the UK are coming to DC this November 26. once the venue gets announced, i'ma start repping this to every single person on the face of the earth. other bands stated to play are Explontoi from Polomolok, and DC veterans, As A Whole. i'ma ask Von for some more details later. meanwhile, keep yourselves busy by reveling in their majestic punk as fuck flyer.



KIAS FANSURI (MALAYSIA)/EUCALYPT (AUSTRALIA)


other than WATT, some bands are stated to tour Southeast Asia early next year, most notably, Kias Fansuri from Malaysia and Eucalypt from Australia. now, i have no idea how they're going to get here, but they put out some tentative tour dates, and DC is definitely there. i might need to ask around for arrangements, because quite frankly, Limp Cat can't do this alone.

tour dates include:

EUCALYPT / KIAS FANSURI - SOUTH EAST ASIA TOUR 2007 / 2008

19 dec 07 / wed - Bangkok , TH @ tba
20 dec 07 / thu - tba
21 dec 07 / fri - day off
22 dec 07 / sat - Singapore , SG @ tba w/ Fujicolor
23 dec 07 / sun - Kuala Lumpur , MY @ The Annexe w/ Fujicolor
25 dec 07 / tue - Kuala Lumpur , MY @ MCPA
26 dec 07 / wed - Kuala Terengganu , MY @ tba
27 dec 07 / thu - day off
28 dec 07 / fri - Kota Bharu , MY @ tba
29 dec 07 / sat - Penang , MY @ Wisma O'Kongsi w/ Fujicolor
30 dec 07 / sun - Ipoh , MY @ Bar Kita Suka
31 dec 07 / mon - day off - New Year Party
01 jan 08 / tue - Kuala Lumpur , MY @ Awakening w/ Fujicolor
02 jan 08 / wed - day off
03 jan 08 / thu - Bandung , IN w/ Devilica
04 jan 08 / fri - Jakarta , IN w/ Devilica
05 jan 08 / sat - Solo , IN w/ Devilica
06 jan 08 / sun - Jogjakarta , IN @ Kinoki w/ Devilica
07 jan 08 / mon - Semarang , IN w/ Devilica
08 jan 08 / tue - Kediri , IN w/ Devilica
09 jan 08 / wed - tba
10 jan 08 / thu - tba
11 jan 08 / fri - tba w/ Justkneeta
12 jan 08 / sat - Manila , PH w/ Justkneeta
13 jan 08 / sun - Davao , PH w/ Justkneeta
14 jan 08 / mon - tba w/ Justkneeta

just keep posted for updates, these are all still subject to change. dear god, i hope all of this works out well.