SKARHEAD’s New York Hardcore Legacy Continues To Thrive!

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What is New York Hardcore?

The second chapter of Tony Rettman’s book NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980 1990 is an incredible insight into the intense DIY music scene of downtown New York City. This chapter focuses on the hardcore punk movement that was born out of downtown venues and neighborhoods that were filled with social unrest and poverty. Rettman paints a vivid picture of a scene in which bands created their own sound amidst pervasive political themes, and where youth culture flourished in spite of its chaotic surroundings.

Rettman discusses the importance of self-expression within this genre, highlighting how it allowed fans to communicate their frustrations through powerful songs that would influence generations to come. He details how punk helped shape the socio-political climate while serving as a platform for artists to express themselves freely without fear or censorship.

From “The Legacy: Set It Off” Chapter Two NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980 1990:

Howie Abrams (A&R, In-Effect Records; editor, Occasional Irregularity fanzine): One day around 1988 Roger Miret walked into In-Effect with this cassette of like three or four minutes of a little kid singing in front of what could be Agnostic Front’s “United Blood, Part Two.” It was a recording of his little brother [Freddy Cricien], what was to become Madball’s Ball of Destruction EP. We released that as a 7-inch in 1989.

Fast-forward a few years, and Madball started to gain some interest. They were getting invited to play places like South America, because Agnostic Front was touring there. The 7-inch had traveled, and people were asking about Madball. The band had become a myth. So that’s when Hoya Roc came in on bass, Willie Shepler on drums, and Matt Henderson was on guitar. Stigma was a part of that lineup as well. They didn’t have serious intentions of being a band.

By 1993, they made it known that they wanted to be a real band. I ended up sitting down with Freddy, who was seventeen at that time, and Hoya. They wanted to make an actual album and become one of those bands that did albums and tour cycles. So we went and did Set It Off. Madball took the old version of the NYHC formula and presented it in a new package and it worked. People really connected with it.

Toby Morse (vocalist, H2O; roadie, Sick of It All): I started going to South America and Europe with Sick of It All. I wasn’t the best roadie in the world. I would help break down the drums and do a bunch of stage dives. I was just a friend they brought on tour. They brought me around the world as a kid. That was pretty much my college. When I came back, the scene was really driving with V.O.D., Madball, Subzero, and Crown of Thornz. It was a whole new generation of NYHC, and it was awesome.

Howie Abrams: The ’90s era of bands like H2O and Crown of Thornz were made up of roadies and fans and scenester kids. All the kids you would see on the road with Sick of It All or Madball or Killing Time started their own bands.

Toby Morse: I ended up starting H2O because I would sing with Sick of It All as a joke. H2O did their first show in Queens opening for Murphy’s Law. When we came out, there was so much of the tough-guy chugga-chugga stuff. People were like, “Oh shit, what’s this?” To some people, it was a breath of fresh air because we had melody.

Howie Abrams: [Crown of Thornz’s Lord] Ezec (Danny Diablo) and Toby had been around the scene for quite a while, and both were super-charismatic guys. They decided they wanted to have bands, but both of them went in two totally different ways musically. H2O had the NYHC vibe but also had a West Coast punk vibe with influences like Descendents and Bad Religion. They didn’t just play mosh parts. But Crown of Thornz had been influenced by the crossover era of Agnostic Front. Both bands also paid a shitload of respect to the Cro-Mags and Murphy’s Law, but each band had an identity of its own.

Michael Scondotto (vocalist, Inhuman, the Last Stand): Around that time, Brooklyn exploded with new bands too. In 1990 alone Merauder, Patterns, my band Confusion, Lament, and Life of Agony all formed. Other bands from that era were Nobody’s Perfect and Social Disorder. L’Amour and the Crazy Country Club were both having hardcore shows. A lot of the members of these Brooklyn bands were going to CB’s in the late ’80s, but didn’t get to play there due to being too young. This was all happening simultaneously to Biohazard making the rounds. Carnivore was the beginning point for all of the bands in Brooklyn, really.

Drew Stone: I saw Biohazard at a hardcore matinee in the late ’80s. I remember watching two songs and thinking, “Two skinheads, two longhairs. Half hardcore, half metal. I get the gimmick.” But things worked out well for them later on, and they got better and better. Biohazard opened the doors for a lot of the bands that came in toward the 1990s. A lot of guys saw what was going on with Biohazard and got inspired. Look at the Biohazard video I shot for “Punishment.” Most of those guys in the video ended up in that next wave of bands. There are guys from Merauder and Sub Zero, plus Ezec and the guys from Madball. That’s what most people know as NYHC today.

Toby Morse: When CB’s got shut down, there were shows going on at Coney Island High. Oh my God, Coney Island High! Another wave of amazing shows were put on by Jimmy G and Steve Poss, who were doing Creepy Crawl Productions, and a whole new wave of kids went to those shows.

Howie Abrams: During the ’90s era, none of the hardcore bands that influenced the NYHC thing sounded like NYHC when it first came out. Everything was all stripped away and started anew. Of course, everyone still gave respect to the people who started it: Crown of Thornz carried on the influence of Agnostic Front throughout their career. But hardcore as a separate thing from metal, the kind of hardcore that still recognized punk as a distant cousin, that stuff was pretty much wiped away. The genuine community aspect of the scene remained. That was still undoubtedly NYHC. That spirit will always be there, and I think that’s fascinating. In fact, for that to survive in a city this big and this diverse, with kids coming from so many different places, not only is it fascinating — it’s almost a miracle.

Vinnie Stigma: The early NYHC thing was a true moment in time. It was where the worlds of music crossed: punk, hardcore, Oi!, and metal. These days, people try to tweet themselves to fame. They have no idea that you have to earn your bones. You have to write good music. You have to be there for the people.