HALF-LIFE
from FOE #8, 1987
HALF LIFE was interviewed Feb. 13th after their gig with the Meatmen at State College. The interview took place over a meal of lasagna, at a young ladies house...
FOE: I had one important question to ask but I forgot what it was... How has the style of the band changed over its history, the difference from the tape and the 7"?
H.L.: Our first tape was largely written by Rick, our guitar player, and he listened to a lot of Business, Blitz, and the whole British thing. He was unfamiliar with USHC. I remember distinctly turning him on to the Faith etc. So we were like a bastardized, British style. Now that Vince is doing most of the writing, its more of the Discharge, Sacrilege thing, but also the Faith. So we have this East Coast meets British, even a Misfits feel to some of our stuff, there's so much influence in there.
FOE: What's up with Mind Cure, your label?
H.L.: Maybe, Tom Lyle from Government Issue produced our 7". G.I. is leaving Fountain of Youth and Tom is starting his own label. He wants our album to be one of the first releases. So it'll be on whatever he decides to call his label, which might be Mind Cure. He doesn't like the logo, but he likes the name, but whatever it's called it'll be distributed by Dutch East India, it'll be the same deal as G.I.'s last two records. It should look slick. Hopefully it'll be out by the fall '87. But anyway, I (Mike) own Mind Cure, I can keep it going with local (Pittsburgh) bands. There's a band PTD, I wouldn't mind putting our their record. I wouldn't print up as many maybe... We printed up 2000 of our record, "Under the Knife". We've sold over half already. A lot of people know us, we've been together for over 3 years. We get a lot of mail from Europe, we were just asked to be on an East German skinhead comp.
FOE: How'd you come in contact with Tom?
H.L.: We wanted to record a record real bad, and we didn't know where to go so we said, well let's call Ian, and we had played with G.I. and he produces their records, and I have always liked the feel of their records. I thought maybe he would do it, so we went to Black Pond and did it. That's where Marginal Man recorded.
FOE: I heard someone from your band auditioned for Samhain...
H.L.: Yeah, Tony, he was kind of in our band. He was in Circus of Death and he hated it, cuz they were "skins", so he quit and he joined us. I knew Samhain needed a guitar player, so I called Suzanne, Glenn's girlfriend, and told her that I had the guitar player for them. Tony had the devilock and the whole thing, and he could play of the Samhain set. He got an audition, and they liked him. Tony came back and did one gig with us at State College and one in Pittsburgh. So Tony went up with Samhain and did some studio work with htme and then they just sent him home. I don't know what, why. I think they're looking for the new Doyle. I think size is half of being in Samhain.
FOE: How's the Pittsburgh HC scene, is it mostly at the Banana?
H.L.: No, there's City Limits, for awhile it was just the Electirc Banana. There was a show tonight with COD, PTD, and Cows and Blood (?) at the University. The fiirst show at the University. They said we're too big to play at Pitt, so we couldn't play. But someone else can, so that's cool. Buut the Pittsburgh scene, well, it doesn't go anywhere. We've been together and then all these other bands form and they hate us, and then they break up and then another bunch of bands start and they hate us and try to kill us and take shots at us and rob our houses and steal our equipment. Then they graduate from high school and go to Nebraska to college. But basically we've always been there and will always be there. I don't see Half Life breaking up as long as it's us three (Jeff, Vince, and Mike. Sorry I forgot to tell you who was present at the interview, you'll find out where the drummer is soon...). Why would we break up, where in the fuck do we have to go? At times we've hated each other, but we love each other, and sometimes we touch each others' bottoms. (Much laughter at Jeff's remark) Nah, no just kidding. So City Limits is a good venue for bigger shows, Gang Green just played there, and Gov't Issue is playing there soon, and the Banana is a good place for smaller shows. Plus the Graffiti wants to do punk shows too.
FOE: Is there a big metal scene in Pittsburgh?
H.L.: Pretty big, yes. To an extent it goes along good with the hardcore scene. Some of the bands dig the hardcore and others don't or they only like it because Metallica likes it or whatever. The best metal band in Pittsburgh, well, there's Dream Death and Doom Watch. It's a shame for kids into Megadeth who think that's thrash. They never heard of Urban Waste, Neos, DRI, AOD.
FOE: And Negazione...
H.L.: Yeah, especially Negazione, the best band in the world, our favorite band.
FOE: You say that you'll always be together...
H.L.: Well when punk is dead, we won't go country like the Replacements. We're gonna be like Sha-Na-Na. 30 years from now, we'll have our own TV show, do songs like "Anarchy in the UK", and "Institutionalized" and "Six Pack". Remember these golden hits. You slammed to this. Half Life, the band with 2 lives. This is our 4th lineup. People say three's a charm, that's bullshit, four's a charm for us.
FOE: Why'd you choose the name Half Life?
H.L.: We saw it in a comic. It's in the Avengers. It's about the vision. Do you know what the vision is?
FOE: No.
H.L.: Well, you're just not hip!
FOE: Why do you think there's so much competition in Pittsburgh, with the bands?
H.L.: Well there's two lines of thinking. You can get a band together, and say, "Yeah, Half Life is good, they're an influence. Will you help us get a show?" And of course we ll say yes, especially if they're good, we'd love to have a good band to play with. But they take this attitude that we suck. Same thing happens in NYC. We have been robbed, shot at, Jeff got shot in the head with a BB. Last week, three people said publically that they were going to kill me (Mike), not including Jeff and Vince. People get this idea that I'm running the scene, which is so ridiculous. It looks like one guy, I've been booking bands, had a radio show, had a fanzine, and it's like "Oh god, Lavella, Lavella". I would have killed for some help. So I quit doing shows. I'm doing G.I. and that's my first show in a year. I moved away from where most of the punks live, I hafta move again. 225 of my singles got stolen, Dangerhouse and Dischord stuff. People have tried to make me give up, but it just reinforces everything I believe in. Everything said in Real Enemy means mopre to me now than it did then. "If you think we're taking the easy way out, then you're wrong and you suck because of it." "Too many people in the way who only talk about their today, the better things they're gonna do, and all the shit they'll leave for you, ignorant hate in everything you say, ignorant hate behind you everyday." We do have a consistant heavy following in Pittsburgh, there have been people who have liked us the whole way. The only other band in Pittsburgh that has a consistant following is probably the Cynics, a psych garage punk band. We're friends with them, the only thing is, is that they have four records out and so they get to open up for the large shows, the Dead Boys, Ramones, Husker Du. They have management and we don't. We get the big punk shows, Bad Brains, G.I. I would really like to play a big fucking show, like with the Ramones. Maybe next year. Every year it gets a little better. I don't care if it takes 50 years, we're gonna be as big as Motorhead.
FOE: Would you guys like to be signed to say Combatcore?
H.L.: Well, let's just say we'd like to be on a label, I'm sure we could do an album a year. I mean you hear horror stories, that some labels don't pay. Like Tesco just told me they didn't receive a penny from "War Of The Superbikes". At least with Mind Cure, we own it, I know where everything goes. Ask us if we smoke.
FOE: Do you smoke?
H.L.: Ah, funny you should ask, no, we don't.
FOE: Do you want ot do a commercial on MTV for RAD?
H.L.: Yeah, fuck yeah. HAD. Hardcore Against Drugs. We'd love to VJ. We'd pllay all the great shit they got there and don't play. Misfits "Braineater", Madness, Specials. God knows what they have there. Ask us what our favorite bands are.
FOE: Favorite bands?
H.L.: Ah, funny you should ask. Four of our favorite bands broke up this past year. Pleased Youth (NJ), Civilian Terrorists (Clev.), Circle Of Shit (Philly), and Iron Fist (Minn.). We were gonna do this massive five band tour, the five toughest bands nobody knew about. Luckily Pleased Youth got their record out before they broke up. Iron Fist, they open up every show with "Anarchy in the UK". they were so punk it was unreal. We love punk! I don't understand this stuff, saying everyone's going metal. It's like if you don't have a shitty out of tune guitar, you've gone metal. I don't think Mr. Know and Necros are metal, they're rockin'. Listen to the Sex Pistols record, it's produced better than most metal.
FOE: What about your lyrics?
H.L.: Our lyrics aren't gloom and doom, they're love songs. Emotional, what else is there to write about. We have more in common with Marginal Man than MDC. If anyone out there in fanzine land collects Japanese toys, give them to me (Jeff). Send cookies, we love to eat! I could live the rest of my life on pepperoni, provolone cheese, italian bread (Mike). I love marshmallow chicks, every Easter I get a million marshmallow chicks! (Jeff) Ask us what our favorite movies are.
FOE: .......
H.L.: (Jeff) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, it's real sick, watch it as an adult! And Clockwork Orange. (Mike) Slaughterhouse 5 and Raging Bull, Taxi Driver. (Vince) Breakfast Club and Incredible Shrinking Man.
(Various ramblings as the lasagna gets finished up) Mike. I'm the manager of a comic book store, and comics are what I do outside of the band, I'm super involved in comics. I go to all the conventions in the tri-state area. Kids Don't Trip!!! If you were wondering what happened to the guys who played in Half Life on "What's Right", they were in a band called Deformed, who were great, but they broke up. Now Rick's saying "Shoulda stayed with Yunz!" Ron's doing the Depeche Mode thing now. Damon, our new drummer, is "seeing a friend", "getting busy", right now, that's why he's not here. He auditioned for us, and he had a tail, and dyed blone hair, so we cut off his tail and dyed his hair black.
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