And so I begin...

Brotherhood is strong... even in cellphone pictures. Taken post As One Fest. The Pit was no joke, inside or out of the venue.


What up, world? It's Steve. So I've not yet posted anything here, but I feel like no one's reading this but us, so it won't really make a difference if I start posting as well. I've been reading my good friend (read: 'mortal enemy') Tracker's blog over at http://www.polarblogclub.com/ recently and pouring over his remarkable dry wit and hilarious anecdotes about life on the road with a hard-working (HA!) rock and roll band like Polar Bear Club. Regardless, While sifting through the bullshit Trevor writes over there (all of which is actually true, despite what he may attempt to pass off as lies. Some of that is actually a lie), I had a shocking and absolutely disheartening revelation. Trevor Backer is good at something. And worse... he's better at something than I am. If you've met that unfortunate man, you can possibly begin to comprehend what a crushing blow to my inflated ego that really is.

After weeping solemnly whilst listening to "Convinced I'm Wrong" (criers of the world, unite and get fucked), I decided that it was time to not only step up my blog game, but also, and more importantly, to step up my shit-talk. Anyway, those dudes recently signed to Bridge 9 Records and are out in Europe with The Gaslight Anthem and Frank Turner. They're probably running that alcohol-fueled party-cruise they call a band directly into the ground, so go see them while you still have a chance.

As for team Forfeit, We're writing and practicing and all the shit you're supposed to do when you're in a band and getting ready to start recording in under a month for the as-of-yet-untitled LP we'll be releasing through Reaper Records and have some sweet shows coming up including Toronto with Bane, and also United Blood Fest in Richmond. Hard. I'll be back to post tour dates for the US and Europe this summer when it all gets locked down for sure and any other boring stuff like that in a few weeks.
Reaper has some crazy stuff coming out really soon, too so head over there for info on Maximum Penalty, Naysayer, Born From Pain and all kinds of other Pit-related soundtracks.

I swung home to shovel my parents driveway and be a responsible son, and now I'm going to go raid the fuck out of their refrigerator and take it for all it's worth... See ya when I see ya.

I'll leave you with an audio interview we did last summer at the start of our full US tour. Kyle and Sawyer conducted (and subsequently lost complete control of) the interview for Bystander Fanzine out of Albany. I think it has it's moments.

http://bystanderfanzine.com/theboard/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=6148

I still want to talk to Kyle about his sister more, but he's much bigger than me.

In dark or horror the parallel world is often a hiding place for unpleasant things, and often the protagonist is forced to confront effects of this other world leaking into his own

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!

So we've been working the past few months on writing new songs that will be put out on an LP around late spring on Reaper Records. This past tour we played a few songs that will be on it, so far we are really excited and anxious to record and get it out there. We will be hitting the studio in the middle of march to record.

We are shooting for 10 or 11 songs, so far we have 8 songs and a few more in the process of being put together. So far every song has come together really well, each different in their own way. The songs have defiantly progressed from the last record but in a good way. Defiantly some helmet influence on a few of the riffs but basically....its HARD AS FUCK!

We will be playing day two of United Blood this year with Converge, Cold World and more so be sure to check out some of the new songs we will be playing at that show. This summer we will be hitting the road to support the LP, chances are we ill be gone almost the entire summer, so keep on the lookout for that. Make sure you keep checking out Reaper Records for future release, there is a lot of cool stuff coming out like the new Reaper Comp featuring, Naysayer, bad seed, alpha omega and a few others along with the new Maximum Penalty record and so much more.

I'm sure we will keep updating this when we are recording to let you know how everything is going and other plans for the future.

UNITED BLOOD 2009

Shows this Weekend w/ Polar Bear Club/Like Wolves

LIMITED 1/20/09 TSHIRTS// ALL PROFITS GO TO THE WESTCOTT!

TOUR UPDATE #2

So...we just got back home yesterday from tour. The last week of shows have been amazing, couldn't have asked for anything better. Unfortunately we had to cancel the last week of the tour due to an emergency. To everyone who was going to come out to all of those shows we are truly sorry and hope that you understand that we needed to be home to get everything situated. Thank you to all of the promoters who booked us on this tour and to the ones that booked the shows that we were not able to play.

We will make sure to come through those cities we did not hit up on the next tour. Now to recap the last few shows, the Atlanta show was amazing, one of the best shows we played on this tour. We've played there numerous times before and the reaction we got was insane, it was good to hang with some of our Atlanta friends again for a few days and hang out in the city.

After Atlanta we hit up Harrisonburg, VA and then Baltimore, MD both shows were really fun. From Baltimore we drove a few hours and stayed in Brooklyn for a few days with our good friend Reggie, it was a blast just having the day off going through the city eating a ton of vegan food and checking out all the stores. Wildcat was able to hang with Katie Holmes as she was shopping at some expensive store, keep on the lookout for any paparazzi shots with wildcat in the background, look out Tom Cruise! The next day we played Brooklyn, the show was awesome, the venue was a sick as well. Unfortunately before our set Wildcat suffered some head trauma, the best way to understand what really went down is to look below at the diagram and figure it out for yourself...



+

a large destructive object

=



This is what happens when champ decides to join in on all of the fun, he clearly failed. Moving on the show went well, we played the set without Wildcat and ended up only playing like 4 songs, but what are ya going to do. Incendiary played the show as well and they were awesome, i picked up their 7" and it rules, make sure you check them out if you haven't already. We left Brooklyn the next fay for Edison, NJ, we played their a few weeks ago with the Mongoloids and Trapped Under Ice, both shows were really fun.

I'm glad I chose not to ride in the foundation van that night, because 30 minutes into their drive towards Syracuse they were pulled over and searched for drugs for over an hour, of coarse the cherry toppers didn't find anything except for fireworks which were seized. Luckily they made it back to cuse well after we did. The Syracuse show was great, thanks to everyone that came out and showed their support! Its Alive played that night as well and they were tight as ever, they just got added to reaper so be ready to check that out, their integrity cover was ill. We left that morning for Boston and were able to hang in the city for a while, tomdom and i decided to get ignorant and get forfeit crew dog tags made, hard. We played Haverhill that night and it was a fun show, the venue was really cool. One of the coolest venues we got to play on this tour. That show was foundation's last show and ended up being our last show of the tour as well. Again thanks for everyone who came out to all of the shows, and all the promoters for letting us play, and to Whitey and Sam Yarmuth for being great road dawgs.

Right now we are home working on writing new songs for the LP, that will be out in early summer on Reaper. I'm sure we will be updating you on the writing process and how everything is going in the studio in the near future, in the meantime check out the new comp coming out on Reaper Records.


he wasn't their...bummer

TOUR UPDATE #1

We are one week into our tour now and it has been going great. Last night we played the Cave 9 in Birmingham, AL with Down to Nothing, the Mongoloids, Swamp Thing, Mother of Mercy and Bad Seed. It was the last show at Cave 9 and it couldn't have gone any better. Looking forward to come through Birmingham and play at the new cave 9 down the road.

The night before on new years eve we played Chattanooga, TN. It was at a house and was surprisingly a good time amidst the endless amount of dirty punk druggers. React! records own Mindset had a killer set and an awesome Warzone cover to boot.

We met up with our good friends in Foundation a few days ago and will be playing the next 12 or so days with them. Tonight we're playing Atlanta with Foundation, Down to Nothing and more. Check back for more updates!

WInter Tour Starts Today!

We leave for tour today, first show is in buffalo, make sure you check the dates below to see if we're coming through your town. Foundation joins us on the first of the year, so please check them out and come show your support!

Video Interview (Hard Times.Ca)

Forfeit Interview (Hard Times.Ca)

Interviewed by Kirby Unrest

Name, I do/play ___ for Forfeit and this is the history of the band so far:

-My name is Tom Damiano and I play bass in Forfeit. So far we have released a demo and an EP on Reaper Records called "Visions". We have been playing out of town as much as we can and went on our first tour in the winter with Attitude. We've had a couple minor lineup changes but we are very excited for everything that we have coming up.



What were your first couple practices like?

-Our first practice was just Ben Shaw (drums) and I jamming out in his bedroom and we eventually added people to the band.

How would you describe your sound to someone who had never heard you before?

-I really don't like these questions because someone else can have a completely different opinion but I'd say it sounds like Madball meets Life Of Agony meets Integrity.



You just dropped a new 7" "Visions" that is even heavier than the demo if that can be believed. What was the writing process for it like and who did you record with? It sounds incredible.



-I am really psyched on our new EP that came through Reaper; I'm very proud of it. Anyways, writing Visions it was a mixture of me, Steve Hornyak (vocals), Sean Barr (ex member) and Joe Harrington (ex member) who each wrote a song on guitar and pieced it together with drums, bass lines and second guitar parts. We recorded with Josh Coy from Wayne Manor Studios in Syracuse, NY and had Jocko from More Sound Studios in Syracuse, NY master it. Also, thank you for the compliment; it means a lot.

Will "Visions" be released to CD and/or available as a digital download for those who don't buy vinyl?

-Our record did not come with digital download but it is available on Itunes and June 12th to record for the re-release of "Visions" on CD. It will have one new song, a cover song, "Visions", and our demo all on one CD.



Reaper Records is a pretty fresh faced label despite already accruing some major talent (Terror, Merauder); what made you want to sign them and how have things been going so far?

-I've known Patrick Kitzel for a little while now and I always went up and bought Reaper shirts and some of the new releases and I asked him if he was interested in putting an EP out for us and he was semi-interested but he said that we blew him away when he saw us in the Fall and asked if we would like to join. Personally, I think Reaper Records is one of the best labels in hardcore; no contracts, no sketchy stuff and he supports us 100%.

Any plans to release a full length in the near future?

-We hope to release a full length in the Winter or Spring through Reaper Records.



The Syracuse hardcore scene is probably best known for it's flagship bands (Earth Crisis, Another Victim, The Promise, etc) but there has been a lot of activity in the past couple years. What are some groups you'd like to mention, why do you think their has been so much growth and how has the scene influenced you as a band, musically and personally?



-I would definitely have to say that a lot of the dudes in Attitude, Black SS and Unholy have helped us out because they have hooked us up with tons of shows and encouraged us with kind words. I would definitely say that a lot of the older Syracuse guys have helped us out. To be honest, the person who has helped Forfeit out the most is definitely PaulyEdge from Meltdown. We've been friends for a while now and he does whatever he can to always hype us, give us shoutouts and just try to help us out in general. If anyone deserves a huge thank you it would definitely be him. As for groups that have helped us out The Brotherhood and the Forfeit Crew have always helped us out no matter what and always have been supporting

In a similar vein, what are your thoughts on the hardcore scene in general? Do you have any major pet peeves and what aspects keep you involved and interested?



-I am 18 years old and I've only been going to shows since I was twelve so I can't really say if things have been changing for better or for worse but I am very content with it. There is rarely any BS that goes down at shows, everyone gets along and there usually are a good amount of kids who come out to shows. As for pet peeves I would have to say that it gets on my nerves when people complain about the prices of shows. I've been booking shows for a while now and people need to understand that gas prices are going up and touring bands need to get paid.

Your lyrics are probably the best I've read/felt from a hardcore band in years and I say that with all sincerity. A few definitely confront negative experiences/situations while some have much more uplifting words but all are very true to life and heartfelt. Who is responsible for them, is there any particular message you wish to convey and what song are you most proud of lyrically?

-Steve Hornyak is responsible for those, he is very smart yet very weird (I like him a lot though!). I wish I could speak for him on that question but I can't haha



Is anyone in Forfeit currently involved in a side project?

-Yes, Steve plays bass in a band called Election Day and Brian Mcgee (guitar), Ben Shaw and myself are in a joke band called Dominator; nothing serious.



According to your MySpace, I see Ben is responsible for "weed/puking" and the other members of the group have equally important duties. Any in particular you'd like to elaborate on?

-We were playing a show in Syracuse last week and we went to Taco Bell and Steve turns to me and goes "dawg, I haven't been on the myspace in about six months; I changed some things around". I turned to everyone else and started freaking out because he had a huge grin on his face. Brian is known for being very sneaky (he's a wildcat) and quoting Arrested Development. Michael Merante looks like a Euro and has long hair; pretty weird. I forgot what Steve's thing said but it probably was about him always moshing and/or doing other related activities. I lift weights and I got a little bit of a belly so I'm a little conscious of it and I sometimes keep my shirt on (not this Summer; I'm on gains now) and they make fun of me for it. Lastly, Ben has a puking average of 75%, he almost always pukes during our set. As for the other description I would rather not talk about it in public, you can figure it out haha.

The vocals occassionally have a distinct Life of Agony feel; intentional?

-I really don't know, I really like it. We saw Life Of Agony in New Jersey this winter after we played a show and all push-pitted; it was epic.



What do you feel is the greatest problem facing the world today and if you believe it can be solved, what are the steps to do so?

-Gas prices, the war in Iraq and Global Warming. I really don't know; thank god I'm not the president.

40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up or Superbad?

-I like them all! Brian and Steve always make fun of me for my movie taste, I don't know how they feel about these movies.

The one country/continent you'd like to play?

-Does hardcore exist in Egypt? I want to play a fucking pyramid and shit.




How important is Starbucks coffee to the success of Forfeit?

-Very.

Your thoughts on ass to mouth?

-It's not my mouth!



Obama, Clinton or McCain?

-I don't know!

Any chance for a US tour in '08 or '09?

-Yup! Almost done being booked! We leave July 18th and get back August 24th

The one celebrity you want to punch square in the jaw is:

-I want to punch Owen Wilson in the nose to fix it.

Big ups/endorsements/etc?

-Taco Bell and American Body Builder Association helps us out haha.

Forfeit Interview (Combat Zine #1)

Who is in the band, who does what and how'd ya get together?
Me on bass now, Wildcat (Brian) on guitar, Steve Baby in vocals and Ben Shaw on drums. Ben and I used to jam out in his room and then steve baby jumped in on vocals and Wildcat recently joined.

What bands was everyone in previously and what did you learn from them?
Ben and I were in Normandy and we learned nothing, Steve Baby was in Earthquake and he probably learned how to function for three weeks only eating beef jerkey and beer. Wildcat used to be in In Love and War and he learned how stressful it can be to not have everyone pull their own weight

Is forfeit going to tour? And if so what are your goals as a band?
Yeah we're leaving December 28th for a three week tour with Attitude and we plan on touring all Summer too. Our goal as a band is to just tour and have as much fun as possible.

What's the edge situation in forfeit?
Just me and Wildcat! Holdin' it down!

Give me 3 bands that give motivate, inspire or just plain get you through the day.
Three bands that really inspire me are Blacklisted, Judge and Earth Crisis

What is your workout schedule these days?
On day 1's I do shoulders and legs, day 2's I do chest and triceps and day 3's I do back and biceps. Then I rotate that as hard/easy days so I'm able to rest. On day 7's I rest.

Hard or heavy?
HARD

what do you think of syracuse hardcore at the moment. Picking up
steam or losing ground?
I'd say it's picking up because Reaper is bringing back the hard sound that Syracuse used to be known for. It lost a little bit of ground because of My Way breaking up though!

What's the deal with the ep coming out on reaper records?
I'm so excited. We're recording five songs and hopefully they'll all fit on the 7". It's going to be called "Visions"

Why do the internet fanboys hate nike?
Who knows! They always have to hate on how hard we mosh, the shoes we wear, and Madball!

Forfeit Interview (Stuck in the City)

Forfeit played here on July 5th. This interview was conducted after the venue had cleared out. Pick up Visions after you read this. You won’t be disappointed.

The interview started with us talking about the legitimacy of AN zip-ups and how easy it would be for Brian, their roadie, to pick up girls on Richmond St. on a Saturday night. We basically ended up joking around for the whole thing. This entire interview is not serious at all

SITC: Okay, so let’s do this for real.
Brian: Let’s do this.
SITC: So who are you, what do you do, why do you do it?
Brian: I’m Brian. I play guitar because…uh… I’m a gigger. I love to gig.
Tom: I’m Tom and I play bass in Forfeit.
Ben: Hey. My name’s Ben and I play drums because I like to bang. (Everyone chuckles)

SITC: Alright, so how did Forfeit start and how long have you guys been a band?

Ben: Forfeit’s been a band for about two years. It all started with me and this guy Tom Damiano, right here, jammin out. We used to be in a more fast paced… I wouldn’t say Youth-type, but just more punk based hardcore band. And we wanted to go back to the roots, put a little New York style and our own style into it and here we are.
Brian: And I saved the band. No big deal. When it was falling apart, I brought it together. I saved it. I brought it back together.
Tom: For the record, the band was fine before.
SITC: How’d you save it?
Brian: Well, two members happened to quit and they were about to break… they were about to stop the band. So I was like, “You shouldn’t do that. I’m gonna save the band.” And we went on tour with Attitude last winter and it was awesome.
Tom: I was ready to keep the band going just me, Ben and Steve.
Brian: Power Trio, but um…
Tom: Bass, Drum, Vocal, no guitar.
SITC: (to Ben) Any input?
Ben: All I have to say is Tom originally started playing guitar and then when he (Brian) came in, Tom played bass and he saved it.

SITC: What are your goals with the band then? Where do you want to take this thing?

Ben: I just wanna see the world, go on tour. I don’t give two shits about making any money. I mean, I’ve spent so much money out of my pocket. And we’re gonna continue to do this until we die. Tom knows what’s up.
Tom: My goals are play as much as we can, tour the world cause I’d like to see place and I like… I love hardcore.
Brian: I wanna gig as much as possible.
SITC: Just gigging?
Brian: Yeah. I love gigging, so I’m gonna try and do that for awhile.
Tom: Can we get some fun stuff?
SITC: What’s that?
Tom: Can we get some fun stuff? (Everyone laughs, speaks over each other.)

SITC: Fun questions? Someone told me to ask you this and I don’t know if it pertains to you guys but what is your involvement with the Mental Mosh Camp video on YouTube?

Tom: No association at all.
Ben: We have no association with that. There was this kid that went to Oswego who has a mullet. It’s his fault.
Brian: I have no association with the uh…Mental Mosh Camp video. But I do fully support Mental…
Ben: And moshing.
Tom: And camp.
Brian: And mosh at camp but I was not in that video. But Lockin’ Out Records is the best label in hardcore.
SITC: Next to Reaper Records or?
Brian: Second only to Reaper Records.
Tom: Reaper Records is the best label in hardcore.
Brian: Better than Def Jam. Better than Island.
Ben: Better than Death Row.

SITC: Alright, so, um what sort of ideas does Forfeit’s message touch on? Do you guys… Where do the lyrics come from… all that?

Ben: I know… Ask our singer that question. (Everybody laughs.)
SITC: Where’s your singer? Where’s your singer?
Brian: I think he’s drinking Duff energy drink right now, and uh, lying down. He’s bleeding a lot…
Ben: I think uh… our message and lyrics and stuff… basically… not just Steve himself but he’s the one who writes the lyrics but… we’re pretty much a pissed off band and we’ll things out that piss us off…
Brian: Self-frustration.
Ben: Self-frustration and things that piss us off. Not only people. Animals, objects, nouns…
Brian: Countries.
Ben: Adjectives, verbs.
Brian: Cities.
Ben: Lisps, speech impediments. (Everyone starts laughing.) Mentally handicapped. No you can’t… (Ben walks away, everyone laughs.) I shouldn’t be talking! You won’t put that in. I’ll kill you. You won’t. You won’t…
SITC: So, I guess, because you’re not singing, what do you want… like kids are watching you guys play and they’re like, “whoa, these guys are…”
Ben: …going crazy. I know when I drum everyone… I can already tell that I’m goin’ crazy cause I can’t see a thing around me.
Brian: And he pukes every gig.
Ben: Not every gig. Just about every gig. I puke while I play drums.
SITC: Why didn’t you puke tonight?
Ben: I had a fan blowing on me. It was actually blowing on everybody but before we played I stole it and put it behind, on myself. I’m selfish like that.
SITC: Keep the hair out of your eyes?
Ben: I don’t have long hair. I ain’t no Euro. Whoa! Alright, that was bad… I ain’t no 80s hair-metal Poison, Motley Crue band. Jesus. We are the wrong people to talk to.
Brian: We are alienating our fans.

SITC: What’d you guys think of the show tonight though?

Ben: Show tonight was awesome. Thought that the show in Toronto was gonna be awesome and I expected it to be awesome and that’s what I got.
Tom: Awesome show and met a lot of cool people and I support the barbecue.
Ben: And uh… that dude Greg, who put on the show, fuckin’ fed me and was barbecuin’ for everyone and then made me do all the bitch work. (Everyone laughs.) Fuck that dude.
SITC: How many hot dogs or hamburgers did you eat before you played though?
Ben: I had three hamburgers and a veggie dog.
Brian: I had three veggie dogs and they were awesome.
Tom: I didn’t know we could have that much. I had two hamburgers and a veggie dog.
SITC: So, alright, back to the serious stuff. Less of the fun stuff.
Brian: That wasn’t serious? Because I really did eat three hot dogs.
Ben: I had three hamburgers and a hot dog!
Tom: I seriously did it!

SITC: So when it comes to the hardcore community and all the bullshit and all the good shit, what’s important to the band?

Ben: That everybody’s just havin’ a good time. You know, I always hate how people always gotta hate on each other for the stupidest reasons. You know what, we’re all people, we’re all angry at the world, we don’t have to be angry at each other.
SITC: Positive message.
Brian: Positive Ben, he loves stickin’ to the PMA. Moose Jerky.
SITC: Yeah what’s Moose Jerky about?
Ben: I was about to say somethin that I probably shouldn’t have said.
Tom: Yeah you’re causin a lot (trails off)…
All: No comment.
Ben: Internet 2009, that’s all I’ve gotta say. (unclear)

SITC: So I guess… You guys are from Syracuse… it’s a pretty, I guess, epic hardcore community. What’s it like being from there?

Ben: Karl Buechner… No, just kidding. (guys start laughing). We didn’t say anything!
Tom: Nah, we get a lot of support from a lot of the older guys which is awesome cause it means a lot to us cause it’s like all the bands that we really listen to a lot and look up to.
Ben: And uh, the scene as a whole and its, you know, any scene has its hit or miss shows but you get’em all together and usually it’s always a blast. There’s… you know… over the years bullshit’s died down and hopefully it stays that way.
Tom: Syracuse Straight Edge.
[PART OF TAPE DAMAGED]
SITC: Got it. Did you guys ever go to the Path of Resistance reunion?
Ben: Well we were actually… I’ve been to one of’em but this past one that happened on New Years Day we were actually on tour. We were playing a show in Pensacola, FL at the time but that show was and people tore down a door while we played. Mosh pits.
Brian: Yup. Mosh pits.

SITC: So I guess, what’s next for Forfeit? Now that the 7″ is out…

Ben: Now, Canada. Next, the world. Right?
Tom: We’ve got a full U.S. coming up and we’re hitting Europe in the Winter.
Brian: Yeah check out Atlanta, from… uh, haha, check out Foundation from Atlanta. Uh we’re goin out with them this summer. Atlanta Straight Edge. They’re awesome. They sound like Trial.
Tom: Can we do a shoutout?
SITC: Yeah sure, you can do a shoutout.
Tom: I wanna say thank you to Pauly from Meltdown, he’s done a lot of work for this band.
Brian: Patrick Kitzul, Forfeit Crew, Trapped Under Ice.
Ben: Anton (unclear) son!
Tom: Attitude.
Ben: Attitude. Tom Ranger no stranger.
Brian: Everybody go to their last shows.
Tom: MikexZero.
SITC: Anything else you guys wanna say?
Ben: Eat chicken wings til you puke and after you puke, mosh.
Tom: Brotherhood, Forfeit Crew, Attitude, Meltdown, Trapped Under Ice, Terror, One Man Mosh Crew.
Ben: Merauder. Life is Pain. Master Killer. Ugh. Straight Up! Scott Vogel!
Tom: Mike X cut his hair.
Ben: Ghostface! Wu-Tang! O.D.B.R.I.P.!
SITC: Do you expect big things from the new Merauder record?
Ben: The Gangster?
SITC: Yeah.
Ben: I heard a few of the new tracks. It will tear someone a new asshole.
Brian: Yo, big ups to the best drink I’ve ever had tonight, which is Orangina? (Chuckles) Big ups!
Ben: Can we start this interview over?
Tom: That was our warm up right?