The Casualties p: Colby Crossland

Interview by Matt Gallen

MG-The first thing I want to say as a fan is thank you very much. You and your band have kept a sound alive that I have listened to since the early '80s. GBH, Minor Threat, 7 Seconds. These bands were so important to me and you keep the spirit alive.

Jake- Yeah!

MG- It's so nice to have new music that is reminiscent of the groundbreaking hardcore of the '80s.

Jake- Right now a lot of bands aren't really doing that because it's not new anymore but ya know whatever. When you love something ya know it stays and I like music like that ya know. I appreciate you saying that. We're not saying we're doing something that is totally original but it's more of like carrying the torch. I like being a part of that. We are not the first but hopefully we are not the last.

MG- I sure hope not.

Jake- Yeah, yeah for sure. It's the thing where I feel like that kind of music isn't here one day and gone tomorrow. It's got a shelf life. It's an important type of music and I'm glad to be a part it and I'm happy you are into it.

MG- You have a new album called Under Attack. I read in an online interview that "Under Attack is your strongest record yet". The band is quoted as saying "In an age where every band is going soft and sounding radio we went the other way."  Please tell me about it.

Jake- Yeah, I say that because I feel like a lot of bands are like writing songs to get on the radio. Rather than writing their own songs and maybe the radio will play them. We're just like who cares about the radio? It's kinda dead. I'm not totally against radio but it's like now that there is satellite radio, I mean whatever. You can say whatever you want. We never wrote songs to get on the radio, that's silly. So we just do our thing. I feel like a lot of bands are writing songs that are kinda weak ya know. We're like let's just go the other way. Let's go more extreme because ya know number one our loyal fans will like that a lot. It's something new to do that keeps our core intact and makes it interesting. When you are doing your sixth record you need to up the ante a little bit.


MG- Sometimes it's hard not to make the same record twice.

Jake- It's hard. It's very hard.

MG- Do you have a release date for the new record?

Jake- Yeah, August 22nd.

MG- You re-released your last record On The Front Line in Spanish. How did that come about?

Jake- We were in the studio, the same studio we went to for Under Attack and we had some time. Our singer Jorge is from Ecuador and we have Spanish fans. Jorge was like "Ya know what lets do the whole album in Spanish." There is one different song on that release. We thought it would be kinda cool to do because no band in our style has done something like that. I feel like it's a neat thing. We like how the Clash did cool stuff back in the day and for the kids in South America it means a lot to them. All egos set aside. It was something we could do so we took advantage of it.

MG- When grunge hit in the very early '90s it seems like a lot of metal and punk acts took a big hit as far as popularity goes. How was it playing then versus now?

Jake- I think in 1990 when the band started we weren't into grunge and we weren't into hair metal. Do I like some metal? Do we like some metal? Yeah like thrash stuff. If it doesn't involve a jean jacket then we don't want to hear about it. (laughs) We were just getting some people together jamming how most bands start. Just friends getting together playing for other friends that are in bands. There wasn't really any attendance outside of bands playing for beer money. We would show up to shows without any equipment. If we were a more serious band back then maybe it would have affected us but we really weren't. It took a couple more years for the band to actually tour and record.

MG- To really get cooking.

Jake- Yeah, we were doing 7 inches back then. Those were totally relevant where as now some kids don't even know what vinyl is. (laughs)

MG- An interview with you on your website says you prefer playing in Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, and Salt Lake City. I was kind of surprised to see Salt Lake mentioned. What do you like about SLC?

Jake- I think it's like Denver. It not totally east coast or west coast but it's like that diamond in the rough ya know. New York is so jaded with all these bands because everyone comes through there. They think they have to so every scene has kind of like suffered. We come here and people are interested in the band and buy our records and stuff. We like coming to Salt Lake and not just about people buying stuff. I feel like there is an overall appreciation and interest in that kind of music here. In New York it's just like whatever. Jaded, Jaded New York. We come here and people are into it. That's what's cool about Salt Lake.

MG- (laughing) Maybe it's because we're fifteen years behind here.

Jake- We never like to favor any place over any other place. We're from New York, it's cool but we don't care. Salt Lake is just as cool.

MG- Do you mind sharing a stage with the so-called "new breed of punk" here on the Warped Tour?

Jake- No. Ya know what, I don't care. It's like I know we stand out from bands on this tour. There are a couple bands that stand out and I feel like we have our niche in that area. Some of those other bands are competing for whatever that is. I'm not into putting bands down so I'm gonna say it as a broad statement. A lot of those bands are like a flash in the pan. I like being in the band that isn't like everybody else. It's either 100% or not. There is no middle ground. Some of the bands I really like. Against Me! The Bouncing Souls have been our friends forever. It's just the nature of this festival. They gotta have the mass appeal because the numbers will suffer otherwise. If it's just The Casualties and a bunch of other hardcore bands then not a lot of people are gonna be here. (laughs)
MG- That's great. Thank you so much for meeting with me. Check out The Casualties at the Avalon Theatre on Tuesday September 19, 2006.