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Okay, lets have a quick view on the history of Madball.
Madball originated in back 1989, as a side project of the legendary outfit Agnostic Front. Can you tell me more about the start of that side project? Who had this all in mind?
"Correct, you're absolutely right! Basically my brother Roger was very involved in the hardcore scene. He had a band called Agnostic Front. I was just a little kid and he brought me around...you know. I checked it all out and he got me singing some songs. That's how it got started and than they ended to do the Madball thing. They thought it would be a cool thing...you know. I did that, they pushed me and Roger said "Hey, sing about how you feel like, you do it right". I jelled it out and that became 'Ball Of Destruction'.
"
Did it all work out as they had in mind?
"I didn't really have it all in mind, actually. It was just created by ear and it went the way it went.
"
Was it some sort of a child's dream which has been come through?
"No. It just happened.
"
You played un-used songs of Agnostic Front in the beginning. When did the very first real Madball song appear and what was it called?
"It was the second 7 inch 'Droppin' Many Suckas'. Songs like 'Cross Your Face', 'Never Had It', 'Spit On Your Grave', all those songs.
"
What were your expectations about that first release EP 'Ball Of Destruction'?
"At that time I was just a little kid just having fun. I sang on it. I had a fun time doing it. I didn't really expect too much to come from it. I thought maybe a couple of people would hear it. I didn't think too much...you know. Years passed by, I was getting old. I started realizing that people actually heard it as far as Europe. Wow, it actually got around more than I thought it would.
"
>After that there were releases of the albums;
1989 Droppin' Many Suckas [ep],
1994 Set It Off,
1996 Demonstrating My Style,
1998 Look My Way,
2000 Hold It Down
Do you have any special memories to some of these releases?
"I tell you man. Every year, every record brings back different memories. From that time period. >From whom was going on in my mind. What I was doing at that time. So every record has memories, good and bad ones.
"
To mention the song D.I.F.M.M. on the album 'Hold It Down'. Explain something to me about it.
"Haha, Do It For Me Motherfucker. It's just like there is so many people with the D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself). There is nothing wrong with it. Do it yourself, nothing wrong with that at all. That's a big part of the hardcore scene, doing things yourself. Believe me we know because we're doing it for many years. There are a lot of people who don't even know what it is to be D.I.Y. It's about a lot of things and that's why we like to do it D.I.F.M.M.
"
What does HARDCORE mean to Madball?
"It's a big part of our lives...you know. The scene, the music. The way we live our lifestyle; we're hardcore individuals whether we're praying it or not. It's just the way we are. Real!
"
There were several line-up changes. In the beginning Matt joined, Roger left and was replaced by Hoya, then John temporarily replaced Will etc. I bet you know the story. Did it have some influences on your music style? Wasn't it hard to play older material with the new line-ups during touring?
"It's hard. Luckily we're blessed. We always find people who are pretty talented. And they pick it up quick. You know...like even now. We got Mitch who is playing and our friend Roger on drums. They picked it up in just a couple of weeks. You know what I mean.
"
In '94 you signed to Roadrunner Records and after that you made a switch and signed to the Dutch label Epitaph. Why did you choose for the Epitaph label?
"They had in mind some other shit. Roadrunner was worried about Slipknot and bands like that. And they're just like 'Yeah Madball, whatever'. They wanted to focus on the newer trend and forget about Madball. So that's why we left! We don't wanna be in the background.
"
NYC counts a lot of Hardcore bands. What we know about hardcore bands is they usually got a message about the system or things that happened in their lives. Is it that hard to live in NYC?
"There are a lot of areas. Bad areas and good areas. That's in every city you go. But NY happens to be one of the biggest. So there's a lot of shit going on. But there are also some good aspects about NY city too. It's not all bad. But this type of music, this type of aggressive heavy music tends to bring out more those types of lyrics. If the music was like, la lala la lalala, you would be writing about your girl, you know what I mean. But the music is like darrrrrdara. So you're gonna sing about heavy shit.
"
We all know Madball's message is Demonstrating My Style (DMS); what does it mean to you?
"DMS is our little family, our little crew. We just threw it in our music to show respect."
Where does the word Style refer to?
"Ohh, what ever your style is. Show me what you got. You see that's my style right now.
"
Every time when you're on stage you know how to create a real moshpit among all fans. I bet you're going to do this at this party too. What is going through your mind when this is happening during your shows?
"A lot of things are going through my mind, I don't know. It's a good feeling though, haha. It's good to see people in to it. When they're more in to it I will get more in to it.
"
During the years Madball created a whole crew of friends and fans. Madball is definitely one of the top Hardcore bands ever. Did you expect it was going to be such a success in the hardcore scene?
"Thank you, thanx. I didn't expect it was going like this. I'm glad for my experiences.
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Unfortunately, the year 2001, is the end of the legendary band Madball. Why did you choose to break up?
"You know, it's so many reasons. Euhhh, hardcore politics, pride...a lot of personal shit.
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What was the greatest thing which happened to Madball during all these great years of Hardcore? And what's the worst thing?
"I've seen a lot of things. I visited a lot of countries, met a lot of cool people. And I shared those times with...you know...some of my good friends. That experience is like the best. And I played in front of a lot of people who enjoyed my music. The worst thing is I didn't make a million dollars, haha."
Did you wanted that?
"Haha, pretty nice but money isn't everything. But the worst thing, euhhh, I don't know. There were some bad things. But in life you take the good with the bad. You just have to overcome things. The worst thing about hardcore is the little people with the gossip here and there. That's probably the worst.
"
We heard your voice on Shutdown's album 'Few And Far Between', to mention one. Roger produced some albums and Matt did 'Hold It Down'. Can we expect things like that in the future or are you going to quit the whole music thing?
"Nooo, I love music too much. I might do something, like producing or something like that.
"
This is the last tour of Madball. Do you have any special plans for it so all the fans are going to remember this one?
"The same thing we're doing for years. I like them to remember us like always.
"
Do you have any last words to all fans, readers or anyone else?
"Rest In Peace to my brother Ritchie of Backfire!. This show is for him. Much love, much respect to all people who have supported us through the years. Madball, Hardcore always lives.
"
That are some great words. I love that about hardcore. Thanks..
"Peace....."
http://www.kindamuzik.net/interview/madball/madball/393/
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