NEGATIVE APPROACH from SP#4, early '83
One of the more promising American hardcore bands to emerge in the last year or so has been Negaitve Approach, from the Detroit area. The band members are John Brannon (vocals), Chris "O.P." Moore (drums), Rob McCullough (guitar), and Graham McCullough (bass). They have one track on the "Process Of Elimination" EP, "Lost Cause," and their own EP, both on Touch & Go Records. Anyone who saw them at Gallery East last summer knows how great they are. After hearing John's desperate vocals and the furious aural assault this band delivers, one feels as though they've been hit by a runaway freight rain. The following interview was conducted by mail. I sent NA a list of questions and they got together and did the interview.SP: How long has NA been together?
John: About a year and a half.
SP: Where did the name come from?
John: It's something stupid that Zuheir (old drummer) said once, so we used it as our name. It means going against the norm and doing what you think is right.
SP: How old are the guys in the band?
John: John-21; O.P.-17; Rob-20; Graham-18
SP: What's the Detroit scene like?
John: It's cool.
O.P.: There's a lot of cool people and almost everyone is friends. It's kosher.
John: It's gone through a lot of changes. When it first started out, it was more of a minority, at first. There were just a handful of punks. But now it's grown to a pretty large scene.
O.P.: It was pretty much Youth Patrol and Necros, at first.
SP: Are there a lot of gigs?
O.P.: Well, last month there were a lot of gigs.
Graham: Good gigs, too.
John: There's at least two killer shows a month.
O.P.: It's generally cool.
Graham: You could say we're a spoiled scene.
SP: Is crowd violence a big problem?
John: It used to be kind of bad. Someone would pretty much get punched out at every gig, because there would be someone that didn't know what was going on. At the Clubhouse, I remember about 6 gigs in a row, someone would get punched out at every gig. Just because there were assholes.
O.P.: But it's calmed down a little. We can handle it.
John: Be no major thang as of now.
SP: How was the gig with SS Decontrol in Detroit?
John: It was weird. We did a gig in this place that nobody ever played before, some Ukranian hall and the sound was really shitty.
O.P.: I thought we played cool.
John: We played good it was just like a weird gig because eveyone just stood there. I guess they didn't know their songs.
O.P.: The GI's ripped heavily.
John: The GI's were great that night.
SP: Did you like the Process tour last summer?
O.P.: Yeah, it was great fun.
Graham: A lot of fun.
SP: How about Boston?
O.P.: It was our worst gig, playing-wise.
John: The Boston crowd is really hardcore. I wanna go back there real soon. But when we went there, they only knew one of our songs.
Graham: Yeah, "Lost Cause." 1-2, 1-2-3-4.
John: I wish our record was out then.
SP: Why did it take so long for the EP to be released?
O.P.: Mucho problems, ranging from off-centered holes in the records...
Graham: Money.
John: We went through about four mixes of the record and the mail held us up because we had to keep waiting for test pressings. It took eight months for that fucker to come out. I don't know, it was good for what we sounded like then but it's like now we have much more energy and more of a raw sound.
SP: Are you happy with the way the record came out?
Graham: Kind of.
John: I'm just glad it did come out.
Graham: I'm not happy with the production.
John: We recorded it in a basement, so I guess it came out as good as it could.
SP: Do you plan to release more vinyl in the future?
Graham: Yeah.
O.P.: Hell, yeah. Double live album in June.
John: Yeah, double live album set off with a world tour.
Graham: Yeah, we're going to call it "Double Live Nothing." (laughs)
O.P.: No, seriously, we are gonna do a 12" EP.
John: We're planning on going to DC and record a twelve inch.
O.P.: With about 12 or 13 songs on it.
John: We're gonna go down there and Ian's gonna help us out with the studio. It's the same place where all the Dischord stuff was recorded. We're probably gonna record it in about 3-4 months, after Minor Threat is off tour.
SP: Do you plan to tour again in the near future?
O.P.: Yeah, if my mom lets me.
John: We can do gigs on weekends pretty much anywhere on the east coast.
O.P.: We'd like to go to California this summer if that's at all possible.
Graham: And Texas. I hear they throw stuffed animals at you.
O.P.: That's cool if that's what they're into. Of course, at our gigs out here, we throw sperm at each other.
SP: Your opinion on the straight edge?
John: Whatever you're into, it's your choice.
Graham: The rest of the band is pretty much straight edge, except for John.
O.P.: It depends on what you think straight edge is.
John: I don't know. To me, it just means to be alert and know what's going on around you.
Graham: Just do whatever you want to do.
SP: Who are your favorite bands?
NA: Minor Threat, Misfits, Bad Brains, Iggy & The Stooges, Void, Sex Pistols, 4-Skins with Hodges, Kiss, Scream, Alice Cooper, Faith, Black Flag, Necros, UK Subs, SOA, Angelic Upstarts, Meatmen, Blitz.
SP: Any profound political thoughts or viewpoints you wish to share?
John: I'd just like to say I don't think politics should be involved with rock and roll. It's just a lame excuse for assholes to try and act intelligent.
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