Collectives

I apologize in advance for there not being any Mp3s involved here for you. This is more of a narrative post but I feel as though it's important enough of an issue to stand side-by-side with Hatebreed re-recordings from Under The Knife.

As some of you may know, there is a long-standing venue in Pittsburgh called The Mr Roboto Project. The project has touted itself as bring a "cooperatively run" venue that's been an integral part of the DIY scene here for over a decade now. I personally served as a board member for the final 4 years of its existence in its original location from roughly 2006-2010 before it took a temporary leave of absence to search for a newer, "better" location.

The venue was my go-to spot for any show I was booking at the time and I spent more hours at the original spot than I'd probably like to admit. I had two relatively major shows coming up in the near future that I was planning on bringing to the Project that had recently re-opened in hopes of diversifying, supporting and introducing a new generation to a new Roboto location. Unfortunately, however, the venue and myself had a bit of a personal disagreement that has led me from moving both of my shows to a more "neutral" location. Allow me to digress to explain the relevance of this story.

The reason, in my mind, that Roboto was always so great was that is was simply just a room. There weren't really any established rules other than the rhetoical "no racism, sexism or homophobia" that has become commonplace in punk rock. In turn, the room was truly whatever you wanted to make it for the night. Whether you wanted it to be the spot for an intimate Bastard Noise show or an arena for the cheap-shot-mosh spectacle you were guaranteed to witness at a Stout show, Roboto was your place to go. I liked that. Just a room. No established guidelines on how a show had to play out. Just a room ... whatever you wanted to make of it for a night.

Now, this is only how I, personally, chose to view the space. Unfortunately this perception was never fully embraced by the entire hardcore community. You see, the people involved with running things during the first few years of Roboto took it upon themselves to lay out a moderately stringent "code of ethics" that they expected of others who wanted to partake in their club. They'll halfway admit to it in their own book they recently released, but will never fully incriminate themselves for the exclusiveness they portrayed in the formative years of the space. While I definitely felt this same alienation that prevented others from allowing themselves to attend the spot, I had already fallen in love with the "charter" that the venue had written up and handed out as membership packets. Despite both acknowledging and disagreeing with the overall aura of the venue, I was determined to not allow "them" to deter the fun and involvement I was planning on having with the space. While their actions most certainly were not representative of the promises they made to everyone in their charter, I'm the type of person who goes by the handbook and always assumed this membership packet would protect my rights as a member regardless of the personalities currently involved with the day-to-day operations of the space. I guess you could consider me a Roboto Constitutionalist.


Over time and largely in part to the unreciprocated respect shown by those who choose to spinkick, hardcore became accepted by Roboto. Whether it was because we continually proved that our shows were an asset as opposed to a liability or simply because all of the "founding members" had abandoned the space in favor of the bars and art galleries which became more fitting for their personalities and fan bases, hardcore was there and hardcore was what was paying the bills.

During the course of my tenure on the board of directors, I gradually fell out of love with the space. Perhaps this is the case with anything in life that becomes a duty as opposed to a hobby. God knows it became a certified hassle during the final two years of the original location's existence whenever Brian Gruetze and I were the only two members on the board of directors who ran the place or gave the slightest shit about the spot. Regardless, it was the moving process from the original location that truly pointed out a lot of the flaws, in my mind, of a cooperatively ran venture of any sort; not just The Mr Roboto Project itself.

Without going into the fine details of my discrepancies with how the move was handled, I made the decision that volunteering a large percentage of my time to project that valued message board accounts' opinions the same, if not moreso, than active, paying members of the actual venue was no longer worthwhile to me. I also grew to realize that sometimes in this world, some peoples' opinions are simply worth more than others'. HOWEVER, being the Roboto Constitutionalist that I am, I realized that treating everyone as an equal and tending to everyone's precious feelings and uneducated opinions is part of the game I signed up for as dictated by the membership packet. These are the guidelines of the cooperative and, in turn, I shall abide by them as a member of this project. My evolving (Warrior) philosophies no longer meshed with the ideals of a co-op by this time and that is why I chose to end my service as a board member with the closing of the original location.

Now, you see, I'm a firm believer of the "my house, my rules" concept. As stated above, I acknowledged that the guidelines set forth by the Mr Roboto Project membership packet were no longer coinciding with my own personal beliefs. Instead of trying to CHANGE THE RULES TO SUIT MY OWN BELIEFS, I simply allowed my seat on the board to become vacant to someone who could be more in-line with the concept of a cooperatively-ran venture. I happily demoted myself to the role of a "standard" member as opposed to member who was serving on the board of directors. I was happy with this role and chose to support in alternative ways considering the typical show being booked at the new location had zero interest to me. This history lesson brings us to current day.

I was recently asked to book two considerably notable bands amongst the hardcore scene; Terror and Shai Hulud respectively. While the new Roboto location was decidedly too small to allow me to even make my money back with a sold out crowd, I decided that I wanted to show a pledge of support to the new location which had been severely lacking in diversity up to this point in time, in my opinion.

It was sometime after I had already reserved my dates that it was decided that my personal conduct amongst "the community" was worthy of being brought up at the monthly Roboto Members Meeting. Without going into full detail, I have consciously made a handful of incendiary comments in recent past to several different groups of people who apparently care so much about the well-being of Roboto that they didn't even show up to the meeting in which they demanded to be held concerning my personal conduct and beliefs. Why I've chosen to battle with said groups is no one's business but my own. Regardless of what I said or why I said it, it was a situation that involved me as a person; nothing involving the shows I was promoting or the bands who were playing. Either way, my accessibility to the venue (which I nearly single-handedly ran for several years) was being called into question ... and the current board of directors had the audacity to actually hear these detractors out. I had already decided to move my shows the second I realized these people were being given the time of day.

I chose to attend the meeting with membership packet in hand. I asked for any board member to take the packet in an attempt to show me where it says within the Roboto charter that the promoter himself has to be in good-standing with other members (let alone non-members) in order to be eligible to book a show. After several unsuccessful attempts to manipulate and twist their own wording in their own pamphlet, it was agreed upon that an amendment would need to be made to their membership packet that would note that it is now the expectation of the venue that EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF THE MR ROBOTO PROJECT BE A "PROPER" REPRESENTATIVE OF THE IDEALS AND GUIDELINES SET FORTH BY THE VENUE ITSELF.

Now, here is where I want you to pay close attention to my wording. While I firmly believe in the concept that if I'm living under "your" roof that I have to play by "your rules" ... I also find this to be entirely contradictory to the concept of a "collective". A collective, in my mind, is a culmination of the COLLECTIVE ideals of the members in which make up its core (and its bank account). If there was a screening process that dictated who and what was to be accepted amongst its prestigious members, then maybe they could better retain the image they want to project of themselves. Unfortunately, however, the only prerequisite for becoming a member to Roboto is a $15 (refundable, btw) investment into the club and a $10 yearly renewal fee. It says so right in the packet. Trust me, I read it.

Nowhere in the charter does it give the slightest mention to the personal character or integrity of the member him or herself. I'm not too sure when anyone decided (or voted) on what exactly the "code of ethics" for the new location should or shouldn't be ... but I know for sure there wasn't a meeting held on the subject like there was for me. Actually, I'm lying, I know EXACTLY who decided the new-found ethos of Roboto, when he did it and why he did it ... but I don't have the physical evidence to prove it so I'll keep it to myself. I only present subjects to you in this writing that I can back up with written documents. I digress.

My purpose in writing this is NOT to dissuade anyone from supporting this venue. This is my blog where I share my personal outlooks to those of you who think enough of me to take the time to read my thoughts and consider my opinion. If you see nothing contradictory with a collective having a prescribed code of conduct expected upon not only it's board of directors, but it's standard members as well ... then please, by all means, continue to support the club. If you're down with Roboto, then stay down with it. No sarcasm. Good for you and I wish you well in your future endeavors. I obviously think it's great that you can get a fully-inspected and legal venue with a working PA system for only $65. Roboto is great for what it is and I know that a large majority of those who are currently involved with the space will see nothing wrong with anything I've mentioned above. I'm sure most of you fall in line with the belief that everyone needs to feel "safe" at all times and in the rare event that you maybe DO find yourself in a slight disagreement with the practices or ethos of the venue that you are willing to just keep those thoughts to yourself for the convenience of having an awesome place to book your shows. If that's the case then I genuinely urge you to keep on keepin' on and supporting a place that I feel (obviously politics aside) to be the best venue in the city for small shows.

If you're like me, however, and feel as though you have a right to have your expectations and guidelines known to you and placed in writing (or, you know, genuinely voted upon by the members) ... then I urge you to be wary of the binding contract you are currently unknowingly entering into by becoming a member of Roboto or, apparently, even attending shows there. I'm not a fan of hidden charges when I buy things nor am I hidden expectations or agendas with organizations I've unknowingly been a part of for almost a decade.

As promised to the board of directors, I will not blindly trash the Mr Roboto Project nor try to convince others out of their support for the new location. I DO, however, have very strong opinions on the matter which is why I took 30 minutes out of my evening to bring up my concerns with the current hypocrisies I see between what is promised and what is done. Throughout my time I spent at the monthly meeting (where are the Minutes, by the way?), the one resolution we ("we" meaning the two or three reasonable board members and I) came to from my attendance was that as long as an amendment is put into place in an updated membership packet that CLEARLY states the expectations of the moral code of conduct from its members, then we're all good and on the same page and I will drop my qualms with the way the venue is currently being ran (as a concerned member). Knowing how long these changes in method typically take amongst quarreling cooperatives, I took it upon myself to write up my own suggestion in an attempt to speed up the process and to quell my beef zone. My suggestion is as follows:

"Jay Hart's Law

It is expected of any and all members of The Mr Roboto Project to be in relative good standing with not only the other members of the collective but also with those who may or may not be directly or indirectly involved with the space regardless of current involvement or location as it relates to The Mr Roboto Project. Membership privileges, such as renting the space, may be revoked at any time due to current moods, feelings or opinions of those not necessarily involved with the space irregardless of past contributions to The Mr Roboto Project by said member.

Each case is subject to review at our monthly members meetings."

Or something like that.

My only point that I choose to make through this entire writing (and ordeal in general) is that I simply want everyone to be on the same page. If the collective membership of Roboto had ever chosen to put the Jay Hart Law (or something similarly worded) up for a vote and it happened to pass, I would've accepted the fact that I was in the minority of the collective on the matter and, in turn, would not have deemed the venue to be an option for me to book my upcoming shows. It's really as simple as that. I don't expect the world to see things my way and I DEFINITELY would never expect the rules to be changed to suit my own personal likings (take a note, dickhead). I simply ask that we be honest with ourselves about what the REAL intentions of some of the board members are ... or maybe the club as a whole. I don't know which terminology to use because there has never been anything put through a vote or into writing about what the full expectancy of the members are.

Maybe they don't want to admit what they're after. Who knows?

Overall, as promised in my meeting, all I want or suggest for The Mr Roboto Project is to be up front about what they want or expect from their members. Not just their board of directors or the bands who play at their space (which ARE clearly defined in the charter) ... but for the simple folk who maybe just want to have a place for a band to play for the night or just someone wanting to attend the space to see an act they enjoy. While I personally think overall membership, attendance and diversity in shows will drop moderately if this amendment was ever put into writing (aka "admitted to"), I think the people who DO stand in line with what Roboto is about (still not sure what that is, exactly) will be much more happier with their club. Maybe those of us on the outskirts of said club will sleep easier at night knowing that we should simply take the club for what it is and just attend on occasion without any hopes or expectations that we will be accepted for who we are regardless of conflicting political or personal ideals. When everyone is operating under truthful circumstances, the world is a happier place. The only reason I'm currently butthurt is because I was given a false impression of what the place was unfortunately. Had I known I had to play patty cake with everyone in order to do what I wanted, I never would've been interested in the first place and I wouldn't have wasted so much time convincing other people that "Roboto's not like that".

I want to be clear on the fact that I have no ill-will towards Roboto as an entity. Some of the weasels who are using the venue to fulfill some personal issues they should probably talk to someone about ... yes. Roboto itself as an entity ... no.

I WOULD like to point something out in closing, however, that I think should be seriously considered by those of you who think everything I just said was total bullshit:

Path To Misery has never had our ideals censored at ANY christian venue we've ever played or by ANY christian band we've ever played with. I thought the christians were the bad guys who always wanted to silence opposing view points in fear of them overriding their own contradictory stances? That's what Roboto always told me, at least.

HATEBREED: Rare B-Sides

There are two things you should know about this blog ... firstly, I don't post music that is still in press and readily available for purchase and secondly, Hatebreed will always be my shit.

That being said, I've spent countless hours searching for these rarities that I present to you now. I caught wind a few months ago that Hatebreed offered multiple editions of their most recent, self-titled release from early 2010. Here is the breakdown:

Wal-Mart Edition (no longer carried) included two bonus tracks entitled Lay It All To Waste and Preservation Of Belief which are living proof that even Hatebreed's throw-away B-sides are better than mostly everything else that exists within heavy music today.

iTunes Pre-Order Only Edition (no longer available for purchase) included re-recorded versions of the final two songs from the Under The Knife sessions that were yet to be re-worked. Filth and Kill An Addict have always been two of my favorite Hatebreed songs and it's awesome to hear them finally recorded in a session where you can hear things other than the china cymbal.

There was a "Deluxe" edition that included a DVD with two live shows and live recordings of To The Threshold and As Diehard As They Come but that is still available for purchase from several retailers so I chose to not include these for download.

I literally spent well over 5 hours searching online for these tracks and gladly would have paid for them if purchasing these tracks were still an option. It's a shame that material this good fades into obscurity due to exclusivity deals these major retailers (Wal Mart and iTunes) force upon bands in order to push their releases.

Fuck buying music from Wal Mart and/or iTunes ... here are the bonus tracks from the various "Special Editions" from Hatebreed's self-titled masterpiece. Just as a bonus, here is a link to the YouTube video I made for the ALMOST as rare re-recording of Severed (another Under The Knife classic) from the UK Edition of the Supremacy album.



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TEARS OF FRUSTRATION: Discography

Lately, I've been engaging myself in quite a few political debates; something I haven't been doing for the past few years. I'm typically quite the isolationist when it comes to ... well, life in general. With our country's upcoming election, however, I decided to take the time to at least find out a little bit about what the new direction of our country is going to be taking (whether we like it or not). Personally, I'm of the persuasion that the voting process is merely a schmoz designed to keep people dormant and as content as possible and that even if the elections WERE legitimate, the two parties simply take different paths to the same destination anyhow.

That being said, I'm not one for politics. Running the hamster wheel never appealed to me. I've always been moreso interested in being a person of high moral character and respect regardless of party affiliation or minute differences in political or religious beliefs. Subscribing to a set of ideals inherent in one party or another always seemed rather submissive and mindless to me. I've always respected those who held themselves accountable for their own destiny, chose to work hard for what they had and took pride in themselves, their work and their country.

A while back I did a post about a little-known band from New Jersey called Tears Of Frustration. At the time, I posted about them in comparison to One Life Crew; a band with similar politics yet without the work ethic or respect that Tears Of Frustration was known for. That's not to say I'm anti-OLC, but the band obviously stooped considerably low and took part in some questionable activity in order to get a rise out of the hardcore scene at the time. Tears Of Frustration, on the other hand, took their message and music extremely seriously.

Typically taken as a "political" band, frontman Joe Falzone has went on record many times to clarify the fact that their lyrics were moreso based around personal outlook as opposed to playing into a Left v Right game or subscribing to either conservative or liberal values. Being in Path To Misery, I've always related to this sentiment. Allow me to digress to speak on the band for a bit.

Tears Of Frustration played a rather standard style of hardcore, yet managed to perfect the craft of doing so. The songs are simple riffs within simple structures while harnessing every ounce of energy that a hardcore band is capable of doing. The songs are short and to-the-point which contributes to their catchy nature. The choruses and vocal hooks are every bit as memorable as your favorite Hatebreed line while the verses drive every bit as hard as a Terror banger. While the band takes on a more traditional style of hardcore than either of the comparisons I made, their songs' ability to stay in your head rival that of both previously mentioned bands.

While I could put words into their mouths like everyone else chose to do (despite being considerably more educated on the band than the detractors), I decided to take the time to rip their section from the Guerrilla Warfare video zine series that were put out in the early 2000s to document the underground NJHC scene. Here you go:




I made my one and only trip to CBGB's in NYC to see their reunion show at CBGBs in 2006. The soundboard recording was actually utilized for a live 7" that band chose to use the picture on the left as the cover for. Yes, that's me singing along back when my scar was the only hair I was missing on the top of my head.

The band did not disappoint in the slightest at the reunion show and actually played another show when they opened up the Superbowl Of Hardcore in 2008 (which I unfortunately did not attend). They made promises of playing out more frequently on top of recording new material but unfortunately have not followed up with anything since this show (at least to my knowledge).

While I typically can't stomach listening to most bands who play this style of hardcore these days, Tears Of Frustration stays on the top of any hardcore playlist I make from time-to-time. In my original post on the band back in 2009, I only made their self-titled demo compilation available for download. This time around, however, I've chosen to include their Lost Identity full length as well as high resolution scans of the booklets so that you can read along with the lyrics. While I've obviously been considerably praising of their music, the lyrics and attitude of the band is truly what keeps me interested in what they're about well over a decade after their demise.

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Quick Apology Post

I just wanted to drop in and make a quick apology to the long-time readers of the blog. A couple years ago I had an anti-One Life Crew post up. I took it down not long after posting simply because I had to remember that everyone in hardcore has a right to speak their mind regardless of whether it aligns with my personal beliefs or not.

I recently got into a mini-squabble online with the PC mediators of Pittsburgh "Hardcore" (I call it punk) and it brought back bad memories of my One Life Crew post. The situation definitely made me reflect on my OLC post again.

The older I'm getting and the more of the world that I'm experiencing, I'm starting to see the grey areas and the different aspects that can arise to shape someone's world view. While I may not agree with all of what OLC was saying, I definitely am into the way they went about challenging the rigid and sterile 90s hardcore scene.

Challenging and being challenged is the only true way for people to grow in their beliefs. One Life Crew was essentially the flip side of the Racetraitor quarter ... so I need to respect them as well.

In celebration of my new-found respect for One Life Crew (and in apology for my previous bashing) ... here is their discography.

If you hate them so much, then download this and listen to their lyrics for yourself (as opposed to buying into someone else's heresy), tell me what you hate so much and I'll gladly have it out with you on it. I'll probably actually do an entire blog write-up once I read all the hate mail.

Not to mention that Cleveland bands from the 90s wrote the hardest shit (sorry, NYC).



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PATH TO MISERY: Pre-Production 2011

These are the first two songs we've recorded in 3 and a half years. This is far from an official release and to be honest, I wouldn't even consider this demo quality. These are merely two pre-production tracks that we recorded, mixed and "mastered" in 6 hours (by ourselves) that we wanted to share in hopes that people will be familiar with them at our show with Earth Crisis and Cavalera Conspiracy next Wednesday, October 19th. There's two songs in one file and the lyrics are as follows...

1 - HUMAN CULTIVATION

To maintain restriction ... erase all trace of conviction.

Subversive manipulation through mental annihilation. Encaged by abusive expectations and lured into a social system: a perverted reality. Psychological prisoner only seeking to aid in the interrogation. An occasional indulgence in exchange for docility. Demonstrating false omnipotence to suggest futility ... propagating distress and despair ... inducing debility.

To maintain restriction ... erase all trace of conviction.

Physical control can only come through cooperation

Suffer alone in silence ... ensuring your total compliance

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2 - VEIL OF DISCONNECTION

Blinded by a veil of disconnection, we remain twice removed from the repercussions of the lives we portray as empathetic to the injustices of the world and the exploitation of the lives betrayed

Over and over again ... heedlessness will reign down

Fuck your god and fuck your faith when it imposes upon the fate of those without the means to defend from the life you attempt to maintain

Convictions abandoned ... conveniences praised as your god

There will be no allegiance to those who turn to sin

With every life, an assurance of death ... an endless cycle of misery
While I accept the truth of this world ... I refuse to adhere to its code

Never-ending intolerance ... for decimation brought about by their hands




Human Cultivation is a song we wrote last week that represents the "new" direction that the band is headed towards due to our new (and stable) line-up. When I say "new" all I mean is leaning moreso towards some of our influences we've had all along (Machine Head, Soulfly, Living Sacrifice, Candiria). Lyrically the song deals with those who seek to control others in whatever form they see fit ... whether it be on the massive scale of governmental institutions or the seemingly menial scale of a one-on-one relationship.

Veil Of Disconnection is actually three years old exactly now and was the first track the "original" line-up wrote after the full length. When I say "original" I mean some combination of the 10-15 members that were in the band leading up to the full length. Some of you may have heard this song played out live at one of our 6 shows we've played in the past 3 years. The lyrics to this song are perhaps some of the more scathing I've ever written (or at least I'd like to think) which attack those who use their religion, faith, code, beliefs or whatever they would like to label it as an excuse to live their lives the way they see fit without regard to the fragile ecosystem (and all of the living things within it) that harbors the life they would like to attribute to whatever god or spirit it is they believe in. Fuck off.

Please feel free to share opinions on the tracks. They may or may not be re-recorded for our EP that we're going to start writing in November. Speaking of which ... expect the blog to start picking back up in November. Thanks for being patient.

Oh yeah, and we have a Facebook page now (lame) ... www.facebook.com/pathtomisery ... communicate with us.

RACETRAITOR: Two More Live Sets

The first set from California sometime in 1997.



And the second set from New Jersey in 1999.

RACETRAITOR: Full Live Set

Full set from the Fireside Bowl in Chicago in 1998.

I have two other full sets coming in the next two days.