trash talk

A little int with Sam Bosson from Trash Talk. Gavin from Dead Nation Records is putting on their Australian tour and it's about to start any day now...I don't want to alarm you, but if the idea of seeing Trash Talk aaaand Extortion isn't appealing, yr probs close to death. If you're not close to death, read on.

Well um actually if you're like me, you probably don't get excited about much in the realm of "hardcore", but if you do like stuff like Ceremony and Have Heart (I can see some record-store dude hand-writing it on the recommendation label on their CD now "if you like Ceremony and Have Heart, give Trash Talk a listen").

Oh yeah and all the up-to-date tour details are at the Dead Nation myspace: www.myspace.com/deadnationrecords, check it

also take a peek at: www.trashtalkhc.com

Only The Sad Songs: Who are the members of Trash Talk? For those people in Australia who haven't heard you yet, how would you describe your sound (you know, some useful buzzwords)?

Sam: Hey there. My name is Sam Bosson and I play drums, Garrett Stevenson plays guitar. Lee Spielman yells and Spencer Pollard plays bass and also yells. I guess I could describe Trash Talk as a hardcore punk band that has some powerviolence and grind influences. We just like to play really hard and really fast I guess. hah.


Only The Sad Songs: From what I can tell, Trash Talk seems to self-release a lot of records and be out on a pretty endless tour. Would you say that at this point, Trash Talk is "what you do"? I mean, I'm guessing there's not much room for day-jobs and other kinds of everyday things like apartments/houses?

Sam: You pretty much hit the nail on the head. We have all pretty much dropped our previous lives and made Trash Talk our life, but we wouldnt have it any other way. We feel like if we are going to do this, we have to do it 100%. Trash Talk is definately all we do. Some of us hold down side jobs when we are home for whatever amount of time, but none of us have "real" jobs. Trash Talk is our job.

Only The Sad Songs: So you guys are out on tour with The Bronx right now, yeah? What are some of the highlights of the tour so far? I'm also interested in what are the little things that are the "highlights" for you right now? Like, little daily routines that you have while you're on tour that give you some structure and keep you kinda sane?

Sam: There are a few things that have happened on this tour that I'm not sure I should be repeating here, but I will tell you that The Bronx are the best dudes and we are so siked to be spending this time with them. Especially since they kill it every night.

There are some things I personally like to do while I'm on the road.. like, I have gotten into the habit of obsessively washing my hands on this tour. I don't know why, I'm definitely not the world's cleanest guy but I've turned into a real germ freak on this tour.

I also like to make sure my Ipod is charged for whatever drive we are doing, listening to music allows me to just close my eyes and escape the van for a little bit. It's very important to have your personal space.

Only The Sad Songs: You're about to head to Australia on tour...Are you in the loop with many current bands from Australia and/or are you familiar with any Australian bands from the semi-recent hardcore/punkrock past?

Sam: Personally I am beyond stoked to be heading out with Extortion. That band is fucking amazing. Hopefully I run into some of my friends in Miles Away and Carpathian while I'm there!


Only The Sad Songs: Whether it is the individualised self-liberation approach with a focus on straight-edge, veganism and other personal choices.. Or whether it's just a general awareness of what's wrong with the world..hardcore is a pretty angry and "political" kind of music, usually for a good reason. In terms of the "political" side of hardcore, what personally have you taken the most influence from?

Sam: I guess punk music has for sure shaped my political view of the world. I am vegan and I identify with the politics of bands like Crass, Flux of Pink Indians, Infest and Napalm Death. So I guess its safe to say that punk has definitely shaped my view of the world and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Only The Sad Songs: Lastly can I get a Top 5 music list from you - it could be top 5 heartbreak songs, top 5 roadtrip songs, top 5 songs of today, top 5 classic hardcore songs, top 5 non-hardcore-related songs...totally up to you!

Sam: Here's five random songs that come up when I put my Itunes on shuffle:

1. The Lurker - Yaphet Kotto
2. Poison Corporations - Aus Rotten
3. Fool - Swans
4. Fight To Live - Blitz
5. Circus Man - Daniel Johnston

Thanks! See you soon. Sam


TRASH TALK AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND TOUR 2009

April 27th - Nightlife, Gold Coast (All-ages)
W/Ghost Town, Die Go Die

April 30th - The Bald Faced Stag, Sydney (Lic.All-ages)
W/Extortion, A.V.O, Homewrecker

May 1st - Majura Community Centre, Canberra (All-ages)
W/Extortion, Slowburn, Eye Gouge & Silverback

May 2nd - The Arthouse, Melbourne (18+)
W/Extortion, Cut Sick, Ire & Rort

May 3rd - The Crib, Melbourne (All-ages)
W/Extortion, Iron Mind & Collapsed

May 5th - The Transmission Room, Auckland (Lic.All-ages)
W/Brick Vs. Face, Bad Medicine, Entrails, Buzzkill

May 7th - Enigma Bar, Adelaide (18+)
W/Craterface, Infection, Thrush

May 8th - Hyde Park Hotel, Perth (18+)
W/Extortion, Battletruk, Blkout, Suffer, No Shelter

May 9th - YMCA HQ, Perth (All-ages)
W/Extortion, Miles Away, Blkout, Bridge the Gap

(Tickets for all shows avaliable on the door)

WWCJD?

What Would CJ Do? That is the question I often ask myself...and here's a wee little interview with my favourite vegan punkrock dreamboat from 4ZZZ FM (Brisbane's community radio station) to find out. And of course to tell us about the CD compilation of punk bands he is helping to put together as a benefit for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Kylie: CJ could you tell us a little bit yourself and your involvement with 4ZZZ. Also can you give us a run-down on the Sea Shepherd punkrock benefit compilation CD you're involved with...how did this project come to be?

CJ: I have been involved at 4ZZZ for a while. I rule Saturdays (a show called "Kids With Class Kicking Ass") with my sister Danika and bro Chris Converse from 10am to midday and I'm currently serving a stretch of the late-night edition of the Punk Show with my other bro Chris Hunter.

To listen, you can stream it here: www.4zzzfm.org.au (click on the link at the top of the page that says "streaming radio")

As for the Sea Shepherd compilation... I was sort of asked to put one together and went hell for (fake)leather at it. It took around 2 weeks in total to put together, including originally getting a massive company to throw a lot of cash it!

Needless to say, that company were employed just to look after the "green interests" of other shitty companies... they represented businesses that owned sweatshops, palm oil factories and one company even implemented an illegal shark-fin fishing operation.

The artwork was put together by a dude from Melbourne named PHilsy/PHilfy/PH...


(the 2008 streetpress polls are in...yep CJ's radio show is officially the 2nd best radio show in the world, or at least in Australia..whatever, beat that posers! click on the image to read the poll results in non-microscopic format. taken from: Time Off magazine)

Kylie: While reading through the biographies of the crew on the Sea Shepherd, I was surprised and delighted to notice more than a few references to punk culture.

Again, while reading the website for the SHAC 7 (Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty) case, I noticed a lot of the defendants made references to the punk community and the straight-edge hardcore scene.

And in the case of Peter Young (imprisoned animal rights activist), a lot of punk/hardcore bands donated their songs to a benefit CD for the defence of his case.

And obviously, there's also PETA 2, which from my understanding, is basically an off-shoot of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals which targets an “emo/hardcore"(!) kinda audience.

In your opinion, does "punk" play a vital role as an inspiration for (young?) people to care about animal rights? Was it punk that led you on a path towards veganism?

CJ: I think so! I don't I would ever of even heard of veganism without Propagandhi or some band like that...I would imagine that punk bands would be responsible for more social concern than they would ever get credit for.

Amy Winehouse doesn't have vegan stalls in the smack pit for people check out before they rack lines up in the toilet...


(Wheat Paste Poets playing at the Sea Shepherd benefit show in the 4ZZZ carpark. photo: Chris Converse)

Kylie: It seems that the Sea Shepherd is pretty much *the* only organisation to be doing marine-based radical direct action on a large scale (as I guess Greenpeace are more of a mainstream organisation at this point) - and they've gotten a hell of a lot of media coverage and exposure in the last few years..

So how did you first become aware of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society?

CJ: I forget! I remember I applied to go on the ship when I was about 19 and couldn't go cause I couldn't get a U.S. visa! Maybe I found out through an old dood I knew who went on the ship and came back and told stories of sea-sickness, pipebombs and Paul Watson...


(Protest! playing at the Sea Shepherd benefit show in the 4ZZZ Radio Station carpark - April 2009. photo: Chris Converse)

Kylie: Okay now it's time to give me your top 5 lists:

Top 5 vegan punk bands (or songs)?
Top 5 vegan food places in Brisbane?
Top 5 “accidentally vegan” products?

CJ: Top 5 vegan punk bands (or songs)? Propagandhi, Bad Day Down, Protest!, Damn the Empire and Against Me! I guess (it is really late and at a pinch).

Top 5 vegan food places in Brisbane? Loving Hut, The Forest, Kuan Yin, My Heart Garden, Alibi Room pizza and Tian Ran(on the Gold Coast).

Top 5 “accidentally vegan” products? Vegemite, tabouleh, bananas, chocolate crackles, other vegan people!


(anonymous vegan dreamboat myspace photo haha. aka he'll probably kill me for using this)

Kylie: How can someone buy a copy of the CD?

CJ: If you would like to pre-order a CD, here's how: go to www.paypal.com.au and send money to brisbane@seashepherd.org. $13 + include $3 for postage.

As CJ mentioned, they need money to press the CD, because they were originally offered money from a company who turned out to be a shitty faux-eco company involved in all sorts of nasty stuff.

The 4ZZZ Punk Show recently held a benefit show in the radio station carpark (you can see the photos of Wheat Paste Poets and Protest! playing at it above) to help raise funds.

You can pre-order a copy via Paypal, and you will soon find the CD in all the lovely usual-suspect places

(Rockinghorse Records & Kill The Music in Brisbane, Missing Link Records & Poison City Records in Melbourne, Resist Records & Paint It Black in Sydney, and of course directly via the Sea Shepherd website etc).

Oh BTW the CD includes tracks from: Mutiny, Damn The Empire, Wheat Paste Poets, Lungs, Dick Nasty, Ringpull, Protest!, A Death In the Family, Army of Champions, Yidcore, Kill Whitey, Bad Day Down, Dead Like Geneva, Roshambo, Tyre Swans, The Black Market, Daysworth Fighting, The Gifthorse, and One Shot Salute.

Keep yr eyes peeled on the Sea Shepherd website for updates and details:

http://www.seashepherd.org/