CR + Haulix

The folks at Haulix interviewed me about my life in the music industry. Read here for ramblings about my first concert (Tina Turner), my first tape (Europe, The Final Countdown), my early journalism (that time VICE published my poems), and the many great people I've gotten to collaborate with over the years, as a publicist, musician, and writer.

CR + Decibel

Decibel Magazine, Feb 2015, Napalm Death cover story by Justin Norton

2015 update

Happy holidays, all!

Coming up in the first part of 2015:

New releases from longtime allies of mine like Good Fight Music, Vitriol Records, Melotov Records, and Twelve Gauge Records.

And...

I am thrilled to announce I am also joining forces with these two labels:

• Three One G Records – untouchable purveyors of cool, led by Justin Pearson (The Locust, Retox, Some Girls, All Leather, Swing Kids, etc.), a friend of mine since our bands toured the UK together in 2011. I wrote about Three One G's 20th anniversary for the new issue of Mass Appeal – check that out here – and now I am so excited to team up with the label as their publicist.

• Aqualamb Records – one of the best new approaches to releasing music I've seen, this label is run by a team of Brooklyn designers who create awesome, printed books in lieu of traditional packaging.

So, to get specific...

Here's how the 2015 release schedule looks so far:

Jan 27 - Youth Funeral - See You When I See You - Twelve Gauge Records

Feb 10 - Outer Heaven - Diabolus Vobiscum - Melotov Records

Feb 24 - Griever - Our Love Is Different - Vitriol Records

Feb 24 - Nasty - Shokka - Good Fight Music

Mar 3 - Hiram-Maxim - Hiram-Maxim - Aqualamb Records

Mar 3 - Sabertooth Zombie - Human Performance IV - Twelve Gauge Records

Mar 10 - Hot Nerds - Strategically Placed Bananas - Three One G Records

From the gut-spilling realness of Youth Funeral, to the doom-death of Outer Heaven, to the cartoonish beatdown of Nasty, to the dark psych of Hiram-Maxim, it's a lineup that reflects the wild range of my own personal tastes and I can't wait to work with you all, on behalf of these bands.

Stay tuned for more detailed info and updates.

As always, contact me for anything and everything.

THANK YOU, ALL, AND HERE'S TO 2015.

CR best of 2014

Personal favorites, not including bands I worked with this year.

1) Unit 731 - The Hive Mind
2) Raspberry Bulbs - Privacy
3) Code Orange - I Am King
4) Chain and the Gang - Minimum Rock n' Roll
5) Olivia Neutron John - Vulnerability
6) Mobb Deep - The Infamous Mobb Deep
7) Ocrilim - Beggar
8) Pyrrhon - The Mother of Virtues
9) Xiu Xiu - Angel Guts: Red Classroom
10) Black Veil Brides - Black Veil Brides

See my list and others', on MetalSucks.

BODY STUFF show

Mon, Dec 1 @ Saint Vitus, Brooklyn

Corrections House, Statiqbloom, Uniform, Body Stuff

2014, 2015

PRESENT:

Hollow Earth's debut LP, Silent Graves, came out last week on Panic Records and the band is now in the midst of a great big US tour.

My final release of the year is Greying, the third LP by The Banner, out December 9th on Good Fight Music.

FUTURE: 

New 2015 releases by Graf Orlock, Outer Heaven, Youth Funeral, and so much more! Look out for announcements very soon. And on a personal note, I'm revving up my own band, Body Stuff – the second EP is in the works, you'll be hearing a new song shortly, and we play this show on December 1st. The first EP is here.

PAST:

A full recap of my 2014 releases, for your year-end lists and other reminiscences:

Feb 4 - High Water - High Water - Vitriol Records

Apr 8 - Tiger Flowers - Dead Hymns - Melotov Records

Apr 8 - 1-800-BAND - Diver Blue - Almost Ready Records

May 27 - Jar'd Loose - Turns 13 - The Path Less Traveled

Jun 24 - ACxDC - Antichrist Demoncore - Melotov Records

Jun 24 - Gloom - Gloom - self-released

Jun 24 - HUSH. - Unexist - self-released

Jul 15 - Highlands - Dark Matter Traveler - Say Again Records

Jul 22 - Vices - New Breed - Melotov Records

Aug 5 - Holy Tongues - Weak People - Melotov Records

Sep 16 - Old Wounds - Death Projection - Good Fight Music

Sep 23 - Divider - All Barren - Glory Kid

Oct 7 - Seizures - The Sanity Universal - Melotov Records

Nov 11 - Hollow Earth - Silent Graves - Panic Records

Dec 9 - The Banner - Greying - Good Fight Music

...as well as campaigns for Circle Takes the Square, Gospel of the Witches, and Netherlands, who did not have new releases this year.

And in 2014 I also did some journalism of my own. These two pieces:

Justin Pearson / Mass Appeal

Lil Debbie / High Times

THANK YOU, ALL!

CR + Justin Pearson + Mass Appeal

My interview with Justin Pearson is out now in Mass Appeal, issue 55! Cheers to JP and the 20th anniversary of his label, Three One G. Thanks to Noah Rubin and the Mass Appeal staff, and to Sonny Kay and Scott Smallin for the old photos. Those legendary Locust masks were designed by Ben Warwas. Check it out!

BODY STUFF 2014

Body Stuff

Photos by Samantha Marble

CR + Good Fight

Excited to team up with Carl Severson and Good Fight on some new projects.

CR + High Times

The full, uncut transcript of my interview with Lil Debbie is up now on HighTimes.com. The article is out now in print in the July '14 issue of the magazine. Photos by Samantha Marble. Thanks to Polly Watson.

CR + High Times

My interview with Lil Debbie is out now in the July '14 issue of High Times.

CR + Lil' Debbie

I interviewed Queen D last week in NY. Coming soon to High Times Magazine.

CR + The Journal, 2006

In 2006, my friend Alanna Gabin and skateboard legend Mark Gonzalez invited me to contribute to issue #17 of The Journal, for which Mark was the guest editor. I gave them some words and photos from my first big US tour. Here's an excerpt. 

CR + Rockpile, 2001

The first interview I ever conducted. Rockpile Magazine, Spring 2001. I met the band in front of CBGB and escorted them to The Hat on Ludlow Street where we all got bombed on those famous frozen margaritas as the tape recorder rolled. During the interview my ex-girlfriend walked in, on a date with her new man. The guitarist of this band later joined Nine Inch Nails.

The second interview I ever conducted. Spring 2001. We did this one by phone. It was one of the first calls made on my very first cell phone (a Motorola StarTAC). I was moving to a new apartment in Brooklyn that day and I made the call while taking a break amidst boxes in the lobby of the new building.

CR + Vice, 2002

Vice Magazine, 2002. Vice invited me to review whatever records I wanted so I took it as an opportunity to give tens to all my favorite bands of the day. After a conventional review or two, I switched to writing poems but the tens remained constant.

BODY STUFF videos

The entire Body Stuff EP is now on YouTube in one video playlist. Watch here.

BODY STUFF - Street Walker

The sixth and final video off the debut EP. Happy New Year!