“Our music was born out of frustration and boredom, which turned to anger. I think anger has a lot to do with different types of music. It’s a very powerful emotion.”
Indeed anger is a catalyst of productivity but angry music can run the risk of being 2D if it’s purely cynical. Lou doesn’t approach songwriting flippantly, making sure to refine the initial hot tempered outbursts.
“I might write stuff when I’m mad then look at it later and be like, ‘Well that’s just fucking stupid,’ and I have to go and refine it. Sometimes the spur of the moment stuff is great, especially musically. Lyrically I think it has to be better. Sometimes you can get some really good stuff right away but other times when you look at it might seem a little cheesy or dumb.”
Aggression is a prominent feature of Sick Of It All’s onstage manner but this doesn’t mean they have to channel a fury to give the songs an appropriate thrust.
“Live for us is not always aggressive. It’s aggressive but we’re not mad at the audience, it’s an energy. If we come out full tilt and high energy we usually get it back from the audience and it makes us give even more. I remember being younger and trying to think about shit that made me mad and go up on stage and spew out all that stuff but I don’t think I have to do that anymore.”
Sick Of It All have spent the majority of their 25-year history touring the globe, existing in a time tunnel outside the realms of everyday structure. However, of late, family life has halted the band’s erstwhile relentless touring habits.
“We did a bunch of small trips this last summer and we were supposed to come back and start writing but my brother Pete [the guitar player] and his wife had a baby and then they took months off and moved to a new house. I guess life gets in the way a lot, but it’s a positive thing. It wasn’t a tragedy, he’s got a beautiful daughter.”
Lou explains that maintaining healthy home lives involves making loved ones aware of the nature and responsibilities of the life they lead.
“My daughter was born two years ago, [and] when she was barely a month old we had a tour booked that was over a month long and I had to turn to my wife and say, ‘This is what I do for a living.’ And she knew that before we got married, that this is what I do. I don’t think the band is more important than my family but I know my obligations to it.”
Even though he’s out of town for much of the year, Lou verifies that the hardcore scene in NYC is alive and dangerous. His friends who are closely in tune with the local scene ensure he doesn’t fall out of touch and he professes that a few bands have pricked up his ears in recent experience.
“Cerebral Ballzy, a band from Brooklyn, they’re really good. There’s a band from Jersey called Bored Annoying, they’re like skate and surf punk heavily influenced hardcore. It’s catchy and it’s got a little Black Flag, very East Coast hardcore, groove in it. There’s this band called The Last Strand who are more traditional straightforward New York hardcore but they’ve got their own take on it, which gives them a little more originality than the others that I’ve been seeing around.”
Despite the enforced limbo, a touring musician’s life is far from lonely. A travelling festival is an invitation for bands to mutually embrace the peculiar lifestyle they share and Sick Of It All will be hanging with some good pals when Soundwave comes to town later in the month.
“Madball, Cancer Bats. We toured with Slayer, Tom is really cool with us. Every time we do festivals together now he’ll come and see us. It’s always good to see people like that.”
Lou also explains he is looking forward to seeing headliners Metallica, a band they encountered very early in their career but haven’t had the opportunity to check out lately.
“When Metallica first came to the East Coast to record Kill ‘Em All they stayed with a friend of our bass player Craig and Craig would hang out with them all the time when they were recording that album. We saw their first New York show, saw them open up for Venom when Venom did their first show in New York.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
