UNRESTRAINED -- AN INTERVIEW

we will release several records in the coming months -- one being an UNRESTRAINED/LAURA MARS split 7". as we work with almost unknown bands we felt that the world needs to know a little more about them. at SUPERFLUOUS we want to give these bands an outlet -- not only music-wise, but also an outlet for their ideas and thoughts. that is why we started e-mail interviews with them hoping to get a better idea of what these people are all about. at least this will be more informative than your average "we-played-with-Sick-Of-It-All-in-2004-at-the-salzwedel-open-air-and-have-21.956-myspace-friends"-band biography, that are so popular these days.

this whole conversation will be a continuous thing; we will be adding new questions and answers as soon as we get them from the bands. feel free to post comments.

1. could you briefly introduce yourself and the band, please?

Andy: My name is Andy, I play guitar for Unrestrained. We’re a hardcore punk band from Portland, OR, USA, home of the Wipers. 

Justin: I'm Justin, and I do vocals for the band. We're just some dudes that have been friends for quite some time, and finally came together in one band.

2. what is your motivation for being in a band and what are your long/short-term goals?

Andy: My motivation for being in a band. . . tough question. I got into punk really young, I was about 12 when I first started seeking out punk music, and 13 when I started seeing bands play. I’ve always been musically inclined, I come from a musical family, the majority of my family members for three generations wrote / recorded / performed music, so I was born into an inclination for song ideas. When I was younger, I definitely saw music as my outlet for emotional / psychological discord. I have a history of being a painfully introverted person, and of my introversion being perceived to people around me as stand-offish, elitist, or weird, all of which perpetuated my aloneness. I’d been writing songs all my life but when I started putting together bands it was both an opportunity to establish relationships with people (friendships, working relationships, etc.) as well as to communicate my perspective through song, since it was largely my place to speak up. As I’ve gotten older, I have a tendency to be exhausted by music. I am a generally goal-focused person, and that seeps through to my bands. My girlfriend called me out the other day, she said I always need to have a project to have as an urgent concern, and it’s totally true. Teaching song ideas, booking shows / tours, checking mail (electronic mail, but whatever), it all keeps me busy and occupies my time. However, I can do these things in other media, so why music? I had to think about this, and I guess what is comes down to is, when I’m not playing music, I feel like something’s missing. In some ways it bugs me, and at the risk of sounding very “poor me”, sometimes I’d like to be a person that doesn’t need to play music, it can be very exhausting to the energy, the emotions, and the pocketbook. But, in the periods where I’m not playing music, I feel like something’s missing. I almost feel detached from my emotions and myself, or have in the past at least- it’s been a while since I’ve not had a band, haha. 

Justin: Being in a band is the best outlet for me. Before I joined my first band 8 years ago, everything got bottled up inside of me, and would fester for untold amounts of time, until I erupted (usually not at the most opportune time, or directed at the proper people). Even though being in a band serves as an anger outlet, I still find it to be fun. My only goals at the moment are to continue having fun making music with my best friends.

As for goals. the answer to this changes daily. Being goal-focused means there’s always a brass ring I’m chasing in one form or another. I’m hitting a period where I’m trying to learn to let go of the brass ring, to just have fun playing music for a while and when it’s not fun, to put the brakes on, no questions asked, no further concern, and revisit music when I feel like it’s fun or that I miss it. It’s an interesting place to be, especially when the ball is rolling in so many directions. 

3. how did you get introduced to hardcore/punk music and what is your opinion about the current state of affairs regarding this subculture of ours? 

Andy: I was introduced to punk in a few different ways. First was my parents. I grew up hearing all kinds of music, some of which was punk. I’d heard the first Ramones record, The Clash “Combat Rock”, and X “Wild Gift”, among others, before I was old enough to know what I was hearing. So in some respects I’ve always had exposure to it. As I got older and started discovering my own music, I found northwest alt-rock, partially because it was accessible as it was the early to mid-90s, partially because it was in my region of the country. As I found that much of it still left something to be desired, I started investigating other forms of music, bands that had influenced them, bands with interesting names frankly, basically anything I could get my hands on. I started gaining some awareness of classic punk- The Clash, Subhumans- and went from there. I started discovering local current punk, and from there started going to shows. I saw a band from Portland called National Guard a lot, they were influenced by Minor Threat, Gorilla Biscuits, and Uniform Choice, and seemed to influence EVERYONE in our town and age group- I’m currently in three bands, and two of them have members I became connected with as a result of our following National Guard. From there I was completely immersed in punk. It was about twelve years ago, so fast-forward to today, haha. 

My current feeling in regards to punk is one of disconnection. It’s increasingly hard to feel a part of what’s around me, through I still feel very connected to the feelings I grew up with. There are good people everywhere, and that includes punk, so I have to remind myself to stay open to finding them. However, I also have feeling a part of what’s going on right now, it doesn’t feel the same to me. Part of that I’m sure is just my age, everyone’s “back in the day” is something kind of special to them. Additionally, I just find that my music taste has changed drastically. I have an increasingly hard time listening to hardcore punk, both because I have a hard time finding songs that I like and because the volume and tone of the music tend to give me headaches and feelings similar to motion sickness. Call me old, I don’t care, haha. 

Justin: My story is slightly similar to Andy's, in that I first discovered punk at the age of 12 when I found my Dad's Sex Pistols record. That led to other bands like the Clash and the Ramones. Around that same time, I was learning to play guitar, and had a subscription to Guitar World. They dedicated an entire issue to the top 25 records of most musical genres, and as an addition to the top 25 punk records, they had a page listing their take on the top 10 hardcore records. The article described hardcore as the bastard step brother of punk, and not more than a week after reading that issue, I had managed to purchase records from Minor Threat, and Black Flag. It was a few years later that kids my same age were beginning to start their own hardcore punk bands, and as Andy mentioned, National Guard were a huge part of that. Sure, Portland has had many legendary punk bands, but this was finally something my friends and I could call our own.

Hardcore today...this is a subject I've gone on numerous rants about. Andy and I have had multiple discussions about the matter via text message while at work even. Hardcore has been a part of me for a little over half my life now, and it's something I'm still very passionate about, but I've found myself more and more disinterested in a fair portion of current bands. I don't get that same sense of passion and genuine outrage from them like I did from the bands I used to go see live. This isn't to say that there aren't some great bands around today, because there certainly are, but in this digital age, I find it takes me a little longer to give a band a real chance, as opposed to the days of when I would buy up just about anything I saw in a distro. Hardcore always ebbs and flows, and I'm hoping that something major will come along soon to reinvigorate it, and make it ugly and filled with rage again.

3.1. Both of you talk about being "disinterested", feeling "disconnected" and having "a hard time listening to hardcore punk" when asked about your relation and your feelings in regard to the current state of hardcore… Why are you still sticking to hardcore punk, then? Have you ever considered getting more involved in a different subculture or playing another style of music?

Andy: Natural inclination really. I feel very connected to punk, it’s just that the punk I feel connected to isn’t in my immediate reality, at least musically. It very much is in the people I surround myself with (both through having friends in punk, and having friends who are unafraid to be themselves, which, whether they found it through punk or not, is very much a part of my personal description of punk) and the way I choose to live my life. Punk ethics is something that becomes easy for people to spout off about and to get on a soapbox about, but I’ve always understood punk as like a feeling I have almost as a reaction to myself, if that makes sense- through finding out more about myself, I find out more about myself, at the risk of sounding obvious and redundant. That being said, musically, a lot of current punk is really boring. I tend to gravitate to people whose songs have a blend of traditionalism and forward-thought, which are somewhat contradictory on paper, but when they work, they really work. When people are playing punk, no matter what the genre, you can hear it. It could musically sound like alt-pop, but some people play it so it feels like I’m listening to Adolescents, they play it with courage, with heart, with soul, they keep me as the listener on my toes, and do the same thing to themselves as the creator. That’s the punk I’m interested in, and maybe I’m looking in the wrong places, but I just happen to not find that feeling in a lot of what is currently associated with punk. As far as getting involved in a different subculture, I wouldn’t even know where to start. I didn’t know where to start with punk, either, I just sort of ran with it when I got a taste. It felt right.

Justin: I got into punk at a relatively young age, and it’s become a part of who I am. It’s very hard for me to let go, because every time I listen to the bands that got me into punk/hardcore, they still continue to fill me with passion for this subculture. I enjoy other forms of music, but they don’t fill me with a desire to get into them on a performance level, unless of course I could join an AC/DC cover band!

3.2. What would need to change in current hardcore for you to feel a little more enthusiastic about it again? Or better; what would you like to see more -- what would you like to see less?

Andy: Honestly, I see things like my own discontent with punk as a matter of perspective. It’s like how everyone has their own “back in the day” stories- for me and Justin there’s the aforementioned National Guard. That’s very much our “back in the day” experience, among others. But, for older Portland folks who were around for early Poison Idea, Neo Boys, and Wipers, National Guard might not have struck them as anything. A lot of what is deemed exciting for people is reflective of the time in which they encountered it. It’s reflective of the place each person was at in their lives. So, part of the issue might be that I am not in the right place to see what I might see if I were new to the culture, or perhaps my ear just isn’t there for it right now. As far as what it would take to make me feel more enthusiastic? More originality, though again not in a Pink Floyd, Phil Collins way, just people kind of pushing the boundaries of what sounds fresh and exciting. More pushing the boundaries of what feels fresh and exciting. More heart on the sleeve. More honesty.

Justin: Hardcore needs more individual thought, and more people playing music because it’s the only way they know how to exorcise their demons, and express their passion. Give me more bands that have something interesting to say. I would also like to see less flat brim hats, and co-opting of hip hop fashion, and less kids emulating what they think is hardcore because they saw it on youtube.

4. How would you describe your music A) to somebody who is into hardcore punk in terms of style and influences and B) to somebody who has no relation to hardcore punk whatsoever

Andy: To a person with a hardcore punk background, I’d usually just say it’s a hardcore punk band, then rattle off influences- Threadbare, Undertow, Burn, Integrity, Cro-Mags. For someone who isn’t into that stuff, I just say it’s a heavy doom-and-gloom kind of band, haha. That usually gets the job done.

Justin: When speaking to someone with a background in hardcore/punk, I tend to tell them that Unrestrained is a hardcore band that is a bit of a throw back to the bands of the mid 90s, but that we also don’t stagnate ourselves by limiting our playing to any particular aspect of that sound. For people that aren’t into this sort of music, I just tell them we’re an underground punk band.

5. How important are the lyrics in Unrestrained songs for you? Can you give some examples of what you are singing about in your songs?

Andy: Being that Justin writes all of the lyrics, he’s more fit to discuss the topics he’s writing about as they directly pertain to his life. I will say though, as a member of a band and as a close friend, the lyrics in Unrestrained are kind of what make Unrestrained for me. One of my closest friends has a place where he can exorcise some heavy shit from his life and it is a place that helps him heal. That supercedes any band glory bullshit.

Justin: The lyrics are obviously very important to me. I went through a period of my life a few years ago where I was stuck in a deep depression. This went on for a few years, and sinking further, and further into that depression made me detach myself from many things. Things turned around for me about 2 years ago, and at this stage, my lyrics are a reflection upon that period of my life, and are an attempt at reconciling those thoughts that I carried within myself. Some of my lyrics also deal with and political issues. I’m easily agitated by many things in this world, and they manifest themselves into songs about my hatred of the ways that people perpetuate their idiocy.

5.1. Do you feel that hardcore punk bands should talk about their lyrics and explain during shows as nobody understands a word anyway or would you rather go with the quote: less talk more rock?

Andy: I feel it’s really particular to the band. I know that, for me, when I’ve been in a position where a song is coming up and there’s that two and a half minutes of space to fill while others are tuning, getting water, etc., if the topic of the song is something that is particularly heavy or frightening for me to talk about, especially in front of a group of people, I force myself to talk about it less for the audience and more for overcoming the fear of discussing my own stresses publicly.

As an audience member, I usually like a small bit on the subject matter, but I like a comfortable middle ground. I like to hear about the topic but not listen to a blowhard lecture. It’s also hard because I’m not a very understanding person so I forget that, at times, people’s speeches are part of them processing or developing, they’re just doing it in front of an audience. I have a tendency to immediately see the flaws in people’s logic, which doesn’t give them the space to learn on their own terms. So, I suppose less is more is a good solution, though maybe it’s better for me to hear people lecture about things that don’t line up so I can learn not to be an ass about it.

Justin: I love when bands explain their songs. Granted, some singers are far more eloquent of speakers than others, but I would love some insight into lyrical content, especially if the live show is the first time I’m hearing a band. I enjoy being able to hear the root development of song content, and get a better understanding of where the passion comes from. Perhaps being able to hear Greg Bennick explain Trial songs on a consistent basis has left me feeling a need to hear song explanations.

7. Could you briefly give your opinion on the whole MP3/digital music download issue?

Andy: What’s the issue? Downloads are killing the conventional music industry. Fine. They function in a business model that’s illogical anyway. Good riddance. Artists are figuring out how to do things without them, and I’m all for that. I can’t deny, I’d like to have a promotion team behind me, which is basically what a label has to offer, combined with distribution. But that just means I need to hone my marketing in and figure it out better on my own.

I tend to get bummed on digital-only releases only because records are really cool. Insert art, looking at and holding and looking through the record, those are things I connect with the experience of listening to music and coming to understand a band. Not having that bums me out at times, but overall I suppose I’m fine with it because the handful of digital-only releases I have I love because the songs are so damn good. Which is what matters ultimately anyway.

Justin: If record labels weren’t charging outrageous amounts of money for records that only have 2-3 good songs, this wouldn’t really be much of an issue. Of course, it can be a bit different for underground bands, because they don’t have labels that are wasting money on press junkets, A&R teams and music videos. I have a very different outlook on downloading indie music, as opposed to major label music. I definitely download a lot of music from independent artists, but I try to purchase as much as I can as well, because those artists and labels need the money to fund future projects. It also comes down to how much I love the entire package of a record. Lyrics are a big deal to me, and I want to be able to read those, and see the artwork that the overall attitude of the band has inspired. I’m far more lenient about what I purchase when it comes to major labels. If you aren’t AC/DC, the chances of me buying your record are pretty slim.