BAD BRAINS from Ripper #7, 1982
Interview by Tim Tanooka
The one thing that really sets the Bad Brains apart from other punk bands is the positive attitude they project. While a lot of bands are into negative images, the Bad Brains are very spiritually oriented. They're Rastafarians dedicated to spreading a message of unity. When they perform there's a warm level of closeness with the audience and a total sincerity that you don't get with a lot of bands.
The Bad Brains consist of H.R. (Hunting Rod), vocals; Darryl, bass and backing vocals; Earl Hudson, drums and backing vocals; and Gary (Dr. Know), guitar and backing vocals.
They originally started in the Washington DC area with schoolmates H.R., his younger brother Earl, and Gary. Darryl joined the band a year later in 1977. After taking a crack at jazz fusion they switched over to punk. Within a few years they had built up a huge following, playing in DC, Maryland, New York, North and South Carolina, and Florida. East Coast hardcore fans described performances of incredible intensity and called the Bad Brains the best band on Earth.
This year the rest of the country finally got their chance to see the Bad Brains when they went on their first national tour. The Bad Brains set combines both hardcore punk and reggae. Their hardcore stuff is something else. H.R. sings so fast the words seem to just rush by, and the band's ability to play with tight precision and musical intricacy at ultra high speeds is amazing.
Throughout the entire set H.R. is an explosion of energy. He never stops moving. He shakes and jumps across the stage, leaps into the audience and finishes off the set with a midair somersault.
But how would the hardcore crowd react to the mellow paced reggae stuff? What actually transpired was a ballet of slow motion thrash dancing with lots of people on stage. Even if you're not very familiar with reggae, there's somthing captivation about seeing the Bad Brains play it. There just seems to be a sparkling, electrified feeling in the air.
Until recently there was very little Bad Brains material available on record. There was one single out on Bad Brains Records about two years ago, with the incredible, lightning fast "Pay To Cum" on one side and a flipside that's best left forgotten. It's not available anymore but fortunately "Pay To Cum" was included in the Alternative Tentacles compilation "Let Them Eat Jellybeans." There's also a good song called "Don't Bother Me" on the "Best of Limp" compilation on Limp Records. Finally this February saw the release of an excellent 14 song cassette on ROIR Records.
The Bad Brains are currently living in the Lower East Side of New York City, but they plan to move back to DC soon and then go to Africa from there.
Right now they're in the process of putting out a double LP compilation of East Coast hardcore, with lots of great bands like Heart Attack, the Nihilistics, Reagan Youth, the Influence, the Misguided, Autistic Behavior, the Necros, No Rock Stars, Crucial Truth, altogether about 25 bands. It'll be on Bad Brains Records. Also in the works is a Bad Brains single, to be followed by an EP.
What follows is an interview with H.R. that was done March 20, 1982.
WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO MOVE TO NEW YORK?
We couldn't afford to stay in DC. They wouldn't let us play in the clubs, couldn't really handle our music and audience. So we went up to New York because there was more places to play up there.
WHAT'S THE BASIC MESSAGE THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO GET ACROSS TO THE AUDIENCE?
Right now the basic message we're trying to get across is that Rasta Far I is the true living God, and that the U.S. empire will fall.
LIKE THE ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE BRITISH EMPIRE?
Yes!
WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION FROM?
Jah. A big influence was Bab Marley, and Stevie Wonder, and a group called the Dickies. Do you remember them?
FROM L.A.?
Yeah. A big influence. Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder on the spiritual end, and the Dickies more on the musical end. Because when I heard their music I said, "Gee it's so fast, this is really bad!" That's what made me really start liking fast rock'n'roll, which eventually led into hardcore, which is what we're into now. Another big influence was just wanting to change from being a robot in the system. That was the biggest stimulant for me, cuz it was like my back was against the wall, and I couldn't cope with the system. Inside I was really having a lot of problems, because I knew things were messed up, but all around me people were pretending it wasn't. You see how today so many people are destroyed because they can't cope, and they keep trying to cope, and eventually you just get burned out.
YOU DON'T FEEL IT'S REALLY POSSIBLE TO COPE WITH THE SYSTEM WE HAVE.
No way! You've got to fight it. There's no two ways about it. They built their system on a shaky foundation. They have all these illusions of freedom, brotherhood, love, but they don't have that, really. Now it might have started that way, but it's not that way today. And to pretend that it is, is living in a dream world. And that's what Ronald Reagan, and all those guys are doing, is living in a dream world.
THEY'RE TRYING TO HOLD THAT ILLUSION OVER EVERYONE.
Yeah! And they're doing a good job of it too. Because so many Amerikans, so-called Amerikans, because really there's only one true Amerikan, that's the Indian, if anyone has a right to be an Amerikan. But those so-called Amerikans, they sit there and they're applauding him, and he's leading them right into the dungeon. And the youth can see right through that, and they're not gonna stand for it. And this is where we come in now, because they're fighting, but they don't know what direction to take. They're rebelling, but they don't know HOW to rebel. So they just say, "FIGHT!" That's real good, because at least they're having the initiative and the will to say, "We want to change." That's better than people who don't. And then that's where we come in now, with a little guidance, and direction. Cuz if it wasn't for Jah, I would still be just as confused as Babylon, until I decided in my heart to try to seek him, and just leave the negative behind. That's what the youth need mostly, is a positive direction.
WHAT YOU CALL A "POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE"?
Yeah.
DO YOU THINK THAT MOST PUNKS HAVE THAT?
I don't know. I think so, but they just don't know how to express it.
THERE SEEMS TO BE A LOT OF NEGATIVISM IN THE SCENE.
Yeah. I think the intentions are positive, because they're dealing with truth, because WE'RE dealing with truth, and because we're trying to expose corruption, and trying to show the irony of it all. But at the same time there's so many distractions that the message is lost, in the blood and violence. So now it's just really up to each individual to find out for himslef what he wants to do with his life, because everyone has the right to decide.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING IN NEW YORK?
Off and on, two years. I hate it. Because so many people are like vampires. The city is a vampire. It drains our people. They go there under the illusion of "the U.S., land of opportunity, capitalism," and they just get squeezed and squeezed and squeezed and then they just die.
IS THAT WHAT YOUR SONG "FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS" IS ABOUT?
Yeah, precisely.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING REGGAE FOR?
We always played reggae, we weren't Rastas though. And then we became Rastas. That's when our reggae became more intense.
WHAT DID YOU DO TO BECOME RASTAS?
We accepted Jah as the true living God.
THERE'S A LOT OF BANDS THAT TRY TO PICK UP A REGGAE ELEMENT BUT IT DOESN'T SEEM TO COME OFF.
It's gotta be sincere, because it's very spiritual, and you can't fake that. You can't fake the truth.
HAVE YOU CONSIDERED PLAYING DOWN IN JAMAICA?
Oh yes. I'd love to. I went there a long time ago, when I was about four, three. I stayed there till about seven, six. Two years, and I remember so many things about it. Haven't been back there since.
HOW WOULD YOU EXPLAIN THE RASTA CONCEPT TO PEOPLE WHO AREN'T FAMILIAR WITH IT?
The Rasta concept is very serious. It deals with taking up the Nazarite vow. When you see dreadlocks on a man's head, that is the mark of the Nazarite vow. However, most people don't know that. Most people think you just grow your knots, and then you're a Rasta. But see, you take on certain rituals and vows when you become a Rasta, and it deals with the Christianity doctrine, the Nazarite vow. It's number six, if you really want to know more you have to just read your Bible. Now today, I and I believe that Rasta Far I, which means the Head Creator, is the second coming of Jesus Christ. Now the reason why we believe that is because of certain signs. Again, you'd have to go to the Bible if you want to know more. It's in Revelations. That's the book we use for our stongest point to justify why we feel Selassi I, Jah Rasta Far I, is Jesus Christ. It has a lot to do with blood line, heritage, and the true Israelite literature and doctrine today as it is. Because the people that are in Israel today are not the original Israelites. They're of Roman descendence, whereas the original Israelites are all over. Some of them are here in the U.S., some in Europe, some in the West Indies, some in Africa.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO SAY?
Yeah. What I'd like to say is that all people regardless of their color, or their race, or their nation, all people came from the same place in the beginning of time. That was the first family, Adam and Eve. Every culture has their own interpretation of that story. And today in the last days of time, in OUR interpretation, the Israelite history, or the Holy Bible, Revelations shows us that all the nations will unite, again, and become like it was in the beginning. So that's really what I believe has to happen, and I believe they will be the survivors, and youth today are gonna be a part of those survivors. And so if anybody really wants to know more, all they have to do is just read the Bible, and go inside. Cuz really, you can't go to a church or a temple or anybody else for spiritual enlightenment. You gotta go inside, and so many people today always look somewhere else, and that's wrong. If you really are a true Christian, or anybody dealing with any kind of spiritual enlightnement, you can see how hypocritical the church system is today, how it's just a ripoff, and they're false prophets. And everyone is like, not even going to church no more, they don't care for that. So now this is a better time for us to really hold onto something truly spiritual, because we'll be stonger than them. Right now they have the power and the money, but when you got your spirit, when you got your soul, you'll be the strongest. That's why, right now, I just try to show people how Revelations is really something a lot more serious than even those hypocrites realize. They don't even know who Jesus is now. He's come back, and they're so blind, so ignorant, so much into their illusions, that now he's come back and they don't even know. They see living prophets, they don't know. Here they are looking everywhere else. They don't know what's going on.
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