Already deep in February, this is the first interview of 2016... Yeah, I've been slacking a bit and although I can't promise anything, I'll try to work on new interviews more frequently. To make it up a bit this interview is about three bands really, Concealed Blade, Blood Pressure and No Time, all involving one and the same fella, Adam! Hope you like it!

 

Hi Adam, first of all thank you very much for doing this interview! Before we get to business, could you please introduce yourself to our readers, tell us a bit about your musical background, your previous bands and the bands you currently sing and / or play bass in (Blood Pressure / Concealed Blade / No Time)?

Hey thanks a ton for this interview. My name is Adam. I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I grew up in the hardcore scene of west central PA and have survived on a steady diet of 80's US hardcore, Oi, and an occasional death metal record. Currently I sing in No Time and Blood Pressure and I play bass in Concealed Blade, S.L.I.P, and Empty Beings.

 

All three bands have an upcoming release around the corner, so no surprise I want to chat a little about all three, because I reckon there is some sick shit coming up! Like Blood Pressure’s “Need To Control” LP, after last year’s demo cassette / 7” the first release with you on vocals. Are you satisfied with how this release got together?

Very happy with the finished product. Matt Bellosi did a killer job with the art and it's always great working with Dave (Braddock Hit Factory) and Mark at Beach Impediment Records. Both are great friends of ours and we are eternally grateful that they are willing to put up with a bunch of fuck-ups.

 

What make you guys decide you would handle the vocal duties from now on?

Our singer was about to move to Florida and in Pittsburgh it is a hell of a time finding a singer, let alone one who isn't in several bands, so the other guys nudged me a bit and I agreed to give it a shot. I was really hesitant to sing in more than one band, but we practiced a few times and I was sold. The contrast of both bands being pretty different in style made it easier for me to justify.

 

Is Blood Pressure a three-piece now, or did you find a new bass player? If so, introduce us! If not, what do you think the effect will be during live shows when performing without an instrument-less singer?

When I moved to vocals our friend Bryan took over. We've all seen his other bands a million times so we knew he could hold it down, so we asked and he gladly accepted. He also plays guitar in EEL and bass in Zeitgeist. Both are excellent!

 

Besides Blood Pressure you also play bass in another hardcore band, Concealed Blade, with whom you released a demo cassette / 7” and a tour tape so far. I unfortunately haven’t heard the tour tape yet, but the demo is an absolute ripper! Certainly one of my favorite demos of the year and I reckon a lot of people share this opinion with me. When these seven songs were done and recorded, did you guys realize you created something incredible, or did that came along the way when the positive feedback started to come in?

Honestly, this was probably the most painless recordings I've ever been a part of. If memory serves me right, I believe we wrote and recorded the demo within 2 weeks. We really had no expectations at all just wanted to do a very low stress and fun band mainly in part because our other bands were super limited with work schedules, other bands, life, etc.. I don't think any of us expected the reaction the demo received, but in the end were just super stoked it got a reaction at all.

 

The tour tape contains tracks from an upcoming release, “Life With The Enemy”, can you tell a bit more about this release? Will it be another EP, MLP, full-length etc...?

We did the tape for a short tour we did last year, and it has 3 tracks that we will soon be re-record for an LP. Also on the tape is a cover of Real Enemy's "No Patience". Real Enemy we're a hardcore punk band from Pittsburgh back in the 80's and in my eyes the first wave of Pittsburgh hardcore has always kinda slid under the radar, so it was cool to shine some light on a classic local punk gem. As for CB, we're about to record an LP next week.

 

Although Blood Pressure and Concealed Blade musically aren’t exactly the same, both bands operate in the same genre. If you come up with a melody, riff or whatever, how do you decide what band would fit it best?

Eric who plays guitar in Blood pressure usually writes most of the BP riffs then brings em' to practice and we structure/add to them and Flynn usually does the same for CB. Usually starts with a few riffs then we all bring our own shit to the table. For any of the riffs that I write I usually know once it's written which band it would work best for.

 

Same goes for the lyrics, you sing in both Blood Pressure and the third band I’d like to talk about, No Time, so I assume you write (a big batch of) the lyrics. How do you decide if you will use a lyric for either Blood Pressure or No Time?

This is the hardest part for me. I really struggle with writing in the first place, let alone writing 20 songs at a time. It helps me when I compartmentalize the songs for a specific band and go from there. With No Time I try to write the music and lyrics at the same time because I feel that the more simple the songs the more you rely on specific vocal patterns or melodies. I often second guess the quality of a particular riff and then I will write some lyrics over top and I'm like "shit, this totally fucking works".

 

Do you reckon there is a lot of difference between the handled subjects in the bands you sing in?

Typically not. I just write about what I see or how I feel and it's a fucking crazy world so I'll never run out of material. Writing negative songs helps me cope day to day and getting out all that negativity with the band helps me be a little more positive in other facets of my life. Maybe the way that I sing about a particular subject is different, but I typically try to keep everything simple and straight forward. That's what drew me to hardcore and Oi music in the first place. It's street music that anyone can relate to or understand. I'm not a poet, I don't use a dictionary when I write, and I'll be the first to tell you that I suck at writing lyrics, but it's from the heart and I believe in this shit.

 

From these three bands you have been playing with No Time the longest I believe as the first demo dates back to 2013. Musically it’s quite different from both your current as well as your past bands. What made you want to start a more Oi! / streetpunk influenced kind of band?

It's always been something I've wanted to do since I was a teenager and I just happened to find a crew dumb enough to go along with it. haha My old bands were winding down so I had some free time and said what the hell, I'm gonna have a go.

 

The artwork used for the demo cassette is obviously a take on No Future Records’ logo. Just funny because of the name, or did certain No Future Records releases had a particular influence on No Time’s sound?

Both! Hell, we even got the name from a Partisans song. I've always been a fan of the label and it's really no secret that we've taken cues from the likes of Blitz, Red Alert or Attak.

 

Recently you released a three track promo (cassette) for an upcoming 12” that will be out next year. Seriously, I can’t stop listening to these songs! Tell us a bit more about it, like when will this record hit the streets?!

Thanks! Glad you like 'em. They are 3 songs that will be on our LP that should be out in March. Not entirely sure of a specific date yet, but tests have already arrived and have been approved. The LP is titled "You'll Get Yours" and will be out on Six Feet Under in the US, and Phobiact in Europe.

 

Are three bands enough for you at the moment, or is making music, writing lyrics and releasing records something you just can’t get enough from?

At the moment I am actually in 5 bands. haha. At times it gets hard to manage with working 2 jobs and being in a seriously relationship, but this has always been a passion of mine, writing music and releasing records. It's cathartic for me and has helped me through some hard times, and I've made a ton of of great friends and lasting relationships in the process. When I was a teenager a lot of my friends got into drugs and partying and that whole bit, but for me it was skateboarding and hardcore punk music. This is a way of life for me and I'm not going anywhere.

 

Alright! I think that is it, thanks again! If there is anything you would like to add to this interview, feel free to do so!

Thanks a ton for the interview! Keep up the great work!