SEND IN THE CLONES fanzine #5 - Kalle
Monday, July 19, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
LARRY RANSOM (Wasted Days TV)
Ati: What was your motivation to do the Wasted Days TV? What gave you the idea to do this episode about TFS?
Larry: I had just started making these Wasted Days episodes because I was living in a warehouse and didn't have a tv but I did have the internet so that was basically my only source of entertainment. After digging around online there was a lack of videos I was really interested in watching, so I decided to contribute and make some documentary shorts for others to enjoy. I can't remember how I came up with Wasted Days as the name to package the shows together. I had just finished the first episode about the independent tv show and tv studio Tom Green (The first ever episode of Wasted Days TV - "Tom Green's House" http://vimeo.com/1257084) was doing out of his living room, and The First Step shows were the very next weekend. I was already tagging along with them for the shows so I asked Steve if he would mind if I filmed and he was fine with it.
Ati: What was the most important thing that you would like to present? The energy of the band? The message of the band?
Larry: The biggest thing I wanted to get across which I'm not sure if it worked was that the band members lived all over the country and they were all flying into So Cal for these shows. And then less than 48 hours later they were flying back home to the various corners of the US. I always thought that was a pretty crazy way for a band to operate but they always pulled it off. The live footage in the episodes definitely capture the energy of the band.
Ati: Do you have a cool story that was left out of the episode? Could you share a story with us?
Larry: I don't think there was really too much left out of the episodes besides a couple of meals, and goofing around in the car on the drive up to Berkeley. The only thing I wasn't able to nail down was an interview with Aram because he was working the merch table at both shows.
Ati: How long have you been friends with TFS? Where was it based? What was the most memorable TFS show for you?
Larry: I first met Aaron over the phone when he cold called my house back in the early 90s. He was just an invigorated kid and wanted to talk to people about hardcore and learn about what was going on in other scenes. From there, a friendship evolved and he invited my band to play at his band's (Peaceful Non-Existence) final show in their home town in North Carolina. The show was booked by Steve and that is when I met him and we stayed at his house. A little later on, Aaron and Steve formed Reinforced and Until Today and my band played with their bands a couple of times. I always kept in touch with them.
By the time they formed The First Step I was living in California but Steve made sure to mail me their demo as soon as it was recorded and I loved it. The first time they came out to California was the first time I was able to see them live and that's when I met Izzy and Andy. That was the first of their West Coast weekend trips and I'd hang out with them and traveled around with them on all their trips out here except for one because I was on another tour.
The most memorable First Step shows for me was the first weekend they came to Cali because it was great to hang out with those guys and see and hear their new band. One of those Posi Numbers shows was really good too. I can't remember what year it was. 2002 or 2003 maybe? It's the show that the photos on the 7" are from. That show was great because it kind of seemed like a turning point for them and I don't think I had seen them play on the East Coast before. The reaction at that show was pretty crazy. The two shows in these episodes are great too because it's the last two times I got to see them play and their album had been out for a while, they were playing a longer set and the reactions and sing-alongs were awesome.
Larry: I had just started making these Wasted Days episodes because I was living in a warehouse and didn't have a tv but I did have the internet so that was basically my only source of entertainment. After digging around online there was a lack of videos I was really interested in watching, so I decided to contribute and make some documentary shorts for others to enjoy. I can't remember how I came up with Wasted Days as the name to package the shows together. I had just finished the first episode about the independent tv show and tv studio Tom Green (The first ever episode of Wasted Days TV - "Tom Green's House" http://vimeo.com/1257084) was doing out of his living room, and The First Step shows were the very next weekend. I was already tagging along with them for the shows so I asked Steve if he would mind if I filmed and he was fine with it.
Ati: What was the most important thing that you would like to present? The energy of the band? The message of the band?
Larry: The biggest thing I wanted to get across which I'm not sure if it worked was that the band members lived all over the country and they were all flying into So Cal for these shows. And then less than 48 hours later they were flying back home to the various corners of the US. I always thought that was a pretty crazy way for a band to operate but they always pulled it off. The live footage in the episodes definitely capture the energy of the band.
Ati: Do you have a cool story that was left out of the episode? Could you share a story with us?
Larry: I don't think there was really too much left out of the episodes besides a couple of meals, and goofing around in the car on the drive up to Berkeley. The only thing I wasn't able to nail down was an interview with Aram because he was working the merch table at both shows.
Ati: How long have you been friends with TFS? Where was it based? What was the most memorable TFS show for you?
Larry: I first met Aaron over the phone when he cold called my house back in the early 90s. He was just an invigorated kid and wanted to talk to people about hardcore and learn about what was going on in other scenes. From there, a friendship evolved and he invited my band to play at his band's (Peaceful Non-Existence) final show in their home town in North Carolina. The show was booked by Steve and that is when I met him and we stayed at his house. A little later on, Aaron and Steve formed Reinforced and Until Today and my band played with their bands a couple of times. I always kept in touch with them.
By the time they formed The First Step I was living in California but Steve made sure to mail me their demo as soon as it was recorded and I loved it. The first time they came out to California was the first time I was able to see them live and that's when I met Izzy and Andy. That was the first of their West Coast weekend trips and I'd hang out with them and traveled around with them on all their trips out here except for one because I was on another tour.
The most memorable First Step shows for me was the first weekend they came to Cali because it was great to hang out with those guys and see and hear their new band. One of those Posi Numbers shows was really good too. I can't remember what year it was. 2002 or 2003 maybe? It's the show that the photos on the 7" are from. That show was great because it kind of seemed like a turning point for them and I don't think I had seen them play on the East Coast before. The reaction at that show was pretty crazy. The two shows in these episodes are great too because it's the last two times I got to see them play and their album had been out for a while, they were playing a longer set and the reactions and sing-alongs were awesome.
WASTED DAYS TV - "The First Step" Part 1 from Larry Ransom on Vimeo.
WASTED DAYS TV - "The First Step" Part 2 from Larry Ransom on Vimeo.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
KALLE (Send In The Clones / Effort)
Way, way back when I first moved into my own apartment, I used to order a bunch of records every month from Sentient Distribution in Germany. He had lots of good records and sometimes merch, zines and demos. One particular month he'd gotten a couple of new demos in and some merch. One band particularly caught my attention. Today I can't recall what the description said but the band was, obviously, The First Step. At this time my only cassette player was in the kitchen so me and my room mate always listened to demos while preparing dinner and although I haven't listened to the actual tape demo in years I'm pretty sure that during that period of time it got played enough for a lifetime. You can say it was love at first sight. The music, the message and the dream of once stage diving to this band.
LUND, SWEDEN - 2008
I did Send In The Clones during this time and TFS was sure a band I wanted featured in it. I got in touch with Aaron and we did a really cool interview. For me, TFS was definitely more than "just a band". They represented good music, good lyrics and a good attitude in a way which I hadn't seen in a current band at that point. When they announced that they'd be touring Europe with Damage Control, I couldn't believe it. Summer came and everyone I knew was stoked to see The First Step play at a skate park in Trollhättan. We rented a van and the "Stockholm Hardcore crew" drove to the west coast and then up to Norway to see them again. At the norwegian show Stephen said he wanted to do an interview as well as they all really enjoyed SITC and so we did. I did (pretty much) the same interview with Stephen as I did with Aaron and while people thought I was narrow minded and boring for interviewing the same band twice, I knew this band had more to say than any other band.
Let's fast forward, let's forget about the breaking up and focus on what's important. TFS had recorded an LP. With Walter Schreifels. (Pause, and think about it. It's just huge.) But the record never came out, everyone was waiting and going sort of "crazy but not insane" while doing so. Enter my friend Cesco Willemse. As he, at the time, was the riff guru of A Step Apart whom had played their first shows with TFS he had gotten his hands on an unmixed version of the LP. He wasn't too keen on sending it to me unless Aaron or Stephen said it was OK. Hence, I asked Aaron and he was totally cool with it as long as I didn't pass it on. And if waiting for the LP was hard, then keeping it to yourself after hearing the first track was even harder. It was my Everest. I knew the LP would be amazing, everyone knew that. But after hearing "Time to understand" I really understood what people meant by being "blown away". I mean, not blown away as you are when you're 15 and hear YOT for the first time, but being blown away by a hardcore band when hardcore and punk rock is all you've been listening to for the past 5+ years, that's different. The band always represented a positive force of change in hardcore and with all their releases I feel they moved mountains. With their live sets, they moved more than that.
For Effort Fanzine #2 I did a 26 pages long interview with Stephen, covering most things TFS. Two hours on the phone with Stephen, while he was driving to see Aaron for the last time in a long, long time, was however not close to enough. There were so many things I simply forgot to ask, didn't have time to ask and didn't think of asking. I have no doubt I can ask Stephen questions about TFS for another two hours, and he can give me stories and memories that would make each and everyone of us respect and love the band even more.
I honestly doubt I'll ever experience a band like TFS again, not that there aren't any good bands out there but it takes "a time and a place" and for me, personally, TFS came into my life at the exact right point. And for that I am forever grateful. Be excellent to each other!
LUND, SWEDEN - 2008
I did Send In The Clones during this time and TFS was sure a band I wanted featured in it. I got in touch with Aaron and we did a really cool interview. For me, TFS was definitely more than "just a band". They represented good music, good lyrics and a good attitude in a way which I hadn't seen in a current band at that point. When they announced that they'd be touring Europe with Damage Control, I couldn't believe it. Summer came and everyone I knew was stoked to see The First Step play at a skate park in Trollhättan. We rented a van and the "Stockholm Hardcore crew" drove to the west coast and then up to Norway to see them again. At the norwegian show Stephen said he wanted to do an interview as well as they all really enjoyed SITC and so we did. I did (pretty much) the same interview with Stephen as I did with Aaron and while people thought I was narrow minded and boring for interviewing the same band twice, I knew this band had more to say than any other band.
Let's fast forward, let's forget about the breaking up and focus on what's important. TFS had recorded an LP. With Walter Schreifels. (Pause, and think about it. It's just huge.) But the record never came out, everyone was waiting and going sort of "crazy but not insane" while doing so. Enter my friend Cesco Willemse. As he, at the time, was the riff guru of A Step Apart whom had played their first shows with TFS he had gotten his hands on an unmixed version of the LP. He wasn't too keen on sending it to me unless Aaron or Stephen said it was OK. Hence, I asked Aaron and he was totally cool with it as long as I didn't pass it on. And if waiting for the LP was hard, then keeping it to yourself after hearing the first track was even harder. It was my Everest. I knew the LP would be amazing, everyone knew that. But after hearing "Time to understand" I really understood what people meant by being "blown away". I mean, not blown away as you are when you're 15 and hear YOT for the first time, but being blown away by a hardcore band when hardcore and punk rock is all you've been listening to for the past 5+ years, that's different. The band always represented a positive force of change in hardcore and with all their releases I feel they moved mountains. With their live sets, they moved more than that.
For Effort Fanzine #2 I did a 26 pages long interview with Stephen, covering most things TFS. Two hours on the phone with Stephen, while he was driving to see Aaron for the last time in a long, long time, was however not close to enough. There were so many things I simply forgot to ask, didn't have time to ask and didn't think of asking. I have no doubt I can ask Stephen questions about TFS for another two hours, and he can give me stories and memories that would make each and everyone of us respect and love the band even more.
I honestly doubt I'll ever experience a band like TFS again, not that there aren't any good bands out there but it takes "a time and a place" and for me, personally, TFS came into my life at the exact right point. And for that I am forever grateful. Be excellent to each other!
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