Interview with Razors in the Night at the Church
By Jim Slimedog
Razors In The Night are one of the more well known bands on Thrash N Bang. Winner of the 2010 Best Hardcore Band in the Boston Phoenix they also recently completed a successful tour of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. They have a sound that falls somewhere between punk, hardcore and Oi. But all this pales in comparison with the fact that two of their members are patrons of one of the finest dive bars in Massachusetts- The Riptide of Marblehead Mass. which, I’m ashamed to say, that every time I drink Jagermeister at home (and that’s a lot) I use a stolen Jagermeister shot glass from that bar (they wouldn’t sell me one). Forgot to bring that up in the interview but this band is bangin’ and I like them (and that’s a lot).
The interview starts with three of the guys in the parking lot behind the Church, a club in the Fenway section of Boston. As I turned on my recorder the guys are talking about some girl from the club but it’s not too clear on the tape. I probably should have asked them about her but instead the interview starts like this:
Todd (guitar)- Would it be better if I was getting a blowjob during the interview?
Slimedog- I interviewed Chris Brat last week (laughter) (See By the Throat’s interview-he’s their bassist).
Swid (bass)- Chris Brat gave you a blowjob? (laughter)
Slimedog- Well, ah, well, he mentioned something about spontaneous blowjobs (laughter) and Sean (By The Throat guitarist) went off on about how he (Christ Brat) was blowing everybody at the gig. (In a jocular fashion)
(Randy the drummer enters the conversation)
Slimedog- My friend, Andy, was noticing you were wearing a tie and I said he must be in a New Wave band, also.
Randy- No, I always wear a tie when I play. (We proceed to talk about his experience in ska and soul bands and how this is his first hardcore band).
Slimedog- Congratulations on winning the Boston Phoenix’s best hardcore band.
Troy (singer)- That was last year, we’re trying not to win it this year.
Slimedog- I like what Swid said on a message board, it’s like we won so now we can quit.
Swid- Yeah, like we won rock’n’roll now we don’t have to play anymore.
Slimedog- So you guys are a hardcore band?
Swid- We get hardcore, Oi, punk.
Slimedog- I like the word hardcore ‘cause it always means intense, like if you’re a hardcore drinker it means you really drink a lot.
Troy- What did the Boston Herald say? We were the new vanguards for Boston hardcore.
Todd- Haardcohre (Boston accent), wicked pissable.
Troy- Hardcore’s a big influence on our sound but we also take a lot of influence from 70’s and 80’s Oi music- it’s a conglomeration of different things.
Swid- The funny thing is people say what we are- Troy’s obviously big into the Oi thing and pushes that. You know, honestly, we just write songs that we feel like and I don’t think we try to fit into anything, you know. And it’s funny falling into the Oi label but I don’t think we’re necessarily that, I don’t think we’re necessarily hardcore, I don’t think we’re necessarily punk- we all just write what we write.
Troy- I think Swid summed it up right. I don’t come to the plate like, “I’m gonna write an Oi song,” I write a song that I feel strongly about. And then we come to practice and rewrite it and then it comes out like us.
Troy- It’s like Richard Marx “Everything I Do”. (Laughter)
Swid- That’s Bryan Adams.
Troy- Randy likes mostly Chic and “Lady Marmalade” and lots of Prince.
Slimedog- Chic was a great band- A cool thing about hardcore it seems equally a big influence on punk and metal.
Swid- I wouldn’t even necessarily say I’m a punk guy but I love rock’n’roll. (Editor-So put another coin in the jukebox, why don’t cha) But living in Boston, Boston’s a punk and hardcore town, like that’s where the heart of Boston is. I like a lot of classic hard rock, too, like Thin Lizzy, Zeppelin and stuff like that. I love punk, too, but I get in touch more with (punk) that living in Boston ‘cause that’s what Boston is.
Todd- This is Boston not L.A.
Swid- Other types of music get more press in Boston but who draws in this town? It’s punk and hardcore, man.
Slimedog- You guys are doing a European tour soon.
Troy- Leaving May 11 coming back the 24th, I think.
Todd- We’re doing Puerto Rico.
Slimedog- No, you’re not doing Puerto Rico.
Troy- Originally, it just started out being Germany where our record label is, we released an album in the Czech Republic, as well. The German record company has wanted us to come there for awhile but because of our touring schedule here we couldn’t do it. We were finally able to do it and then they got contacted by people from Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic and Austria. They originally wanted us to go for a month but everybody’s got to pay their rent so they boiled it down to a little over two weeks.
(Zack, their manager walks by, he also plays in Death Ray Vision who also played today. They were great today and do some really good thrash, hardcore metal).
Slimedog- Any recordings coming up?
Troy- We just did a split 7 inch with Strongbow and part of the tours all about that. And we have a four way split coming out on Lonesome records from California. And then when we get back from Europe we’ve been writing a full length album for the last year almost.
Slimedog- This is a question that I gottta ask for myself, every time I see your bands name I can’t help but think of the Frank Sinatra song, “Strangers In The Night.”
Swid- I thought you were gonna say you admire my pubic hair (laughter) because you wrote a review, a very good review of my pubic hair. (A car backing up almost kills us).
(This is true, a few years ago at a live show I was reviewing Swid disrobed and I commented on his outstanding pubic hair, excerpt from the review is at the end of this interview).
Slimedog- How did you all get together?
Troy- I was in a band called Beware with Todd and that band was kind of a joke/fun band and it was coming to an end and I wanted to put a band together that were good musicians and really knew what they were doing versus the guys that just sit around and smoke weed and get drunk. I play guitar so I wrote a bunch of music and I recorded it, let everybody hear it and I asked, “What do you guys think? Would you like to do something like this?” And all of them were like, “Fuck, yeah.”
Slimedog- So are you the writer of the band?
Troy- Everybody writes, even lyrics.
Randy- Everybody brings something to the table. You got a hardcore guy, an Oi guy, you got a Motorhead guy and you got a ska kid. So it’s all mixed?? together, it’s really a lot of fun.
Slimedog- Who drinks the most in the band? (Pointing a finger toward Swid)
Troy- Ian, Swid drinks to get drunk, Ian drinks to live.
Swid- If you’re talking about hard alcohol I’d say me.
Slimedog- Yeah, what’s the hard alcohol.
Swid- Vodka, dude.
Slimedog- Excellent choice, that my fave.
Slimedog- What’s the best gig you’ve had? (Ian has sauntered into the area)
Ian (guitar)- Pittsburgh, we showed up at this place and they had free chicken wings, free chicken wings and free PBR and there was two people there. It was a good time.
Slimedog- How about the worst gig?
Ian- Same place, Pittsburg, only two people showed up.
Slimedog- Here’s a wonderful question, if you could do one thing to make the world a better place what would it be?
Troy- Oh my, God, I could go on and on, people who judge people by how they look, people should judge on how they act and what they do. I think people should give a shit more about themselves and not care about people doing things that don’t affect them.
Slimedog- Hey, Ian, what’s your answer?
Ian- Uh, probably drop the bomb.
Todd- I would feed everyone heroin filled grapes.
Slimedog- What was that again?
Todd- Heroin filled grapes, I would feed them to everyone.
Slimedog- Heroin what?
Todd- Grapes.
Slimedog- Oh, heroin filled grapes, I get that, okay, that’s an interesting answer, all right.
Swid- Free drugs for everybody, but the right kind of drugs.
Slimedog- Who in the band should be harmed and why would this be justified?
Everybody- Ian ( a chorus of voices)
Swid- It wouldn’t be difficult at all, I would have no- my conscience would be clear harming him.
Slimedog- And why?
Swid- Look at him! I could punch him out now and show no remorse, dude.
Todd- He deserves it, any painful thing that I can inflict on him, he deserves every second of it.
Slimedog- Last question, who is most likely to become a serial killer?
Todd- Ian.
Troy- No, Randy (everyone agrees).
Slimedog- And why is this?
Troy- “Cause Randy is the weirdest person in the band. I love him to death but he does some weird shit. And if I ever find out he kills little girls and hides them in his backyard I won’t even blink. I would, though, cover up for him.
We got links to videos, live reviews on our site, below is the live review that Swid refers to in the interview.
Live review from 7/07 in the Noise magazine
Well, at least I’ll get to see the Acrobrats for the first time. They display no mean feat in aligning all that is good in the classic, punk and metal genres. The music was quite good but my favorite “part” was when Swid the bass player disrobed. Swid is one strapping, stocky, Slavic boy with a healthy thick Polish sausage. Somewhat lacking in pubic hair if not girth (whether this is due to light colored hair, he’s not a natural brunette, or shaving, I and Mrs. Slimedog cannot give a decisive answer so desired by the inquiring minds of The Noise).
