Gather

Three or four years ago, when i started to embrace the straight edge movement, i was hungry for bands with extremely political backgrounds and attitudes, i was sick of all those senseless mosh fashion hardcore songs about friendship and brotherhood and at the same time i was tired of dbeat bands with boring songs about nuclear apocalypses, then i wanted to search something new and give a rest to my Conflict and Aus Rotten collection... That was the time i started to listen to some vegan straight edge bands, and among these bands there was one in particular that blew me off: Gather. I still remember the first time i listened to them, it was a video of Total Liberation on youtube with pictures about animal exploitation, i immediately searched the lyrics of that song, and i was surprised to read something like that, i was used to anti-vivisection songs and stuff like that, but finally someone went through the limits of animal rights lyrics embracing the theory that sexism, racism, homophobia, and speciesism are branches of the same problem: anthropocentrism, which is marked in the part "after 10,000 years of telling lies" as the result of domestication, civilization and agriculture. I know that a lot of vegan straight edge bands used to speak about this issue in the past (see Earth Crisis, Chokehold and so on), but my knowledge of that subculture was still basic.

That´s how i started to search informations about them and their discography and unfortunately they were already split-up for a few years, but that did not stop me from listening to the ep "Total Liberation" , and that was the time when i realized that they were going to be on a loop in my ears.
Great lyrics, sick breakdowns, angry voice, metalcore riffs, they mixed anarcho punk backgrounds with a more violent attitude, and where the band of Crass records taught me to open the eyes, Gather arrived as a punch in the face and helped me to stand up from my weak knees and apathy.
The 7" starts with "Done and Done", a fast song against Damien Moyal of Culture but it applies to those who once used to wave the flag of veganism and straight edge, turning then to consumers of mass murder.
"No Contest" explains how much is important to act to defend and liberate the innocents and the oppressed, and how much is useless to see a meat-free diet as the final goal. Best part i think is where they throw in the middle of the song a part of "Wrath of Insanity" by Earth Crisis (the guitarist Scott Crouse produced the 7").
"Escalate" criticize the empty part of the straight edge movement, characterized by apolitical people interested in talking about how much they are better than you because they have x´s on their hands. In my eyes maybe a teasing against all those boring youthcrew bands? (no offense, i love Have Heart and Champion too).
"I Hate Ayn Rand" is the only one that i didnt like in the first place. The song talks about selfishness and its consequences, but i kinda refused that concept because of my former anarcho-individualist ideas.
In 2005 they shared a split with another GREAT band from California called Seven Generations. The ep contains "New Forms", which speaks about how state and capitalism destroy our autonomy, individuality and freedom. "Who Belongs" one of my favorite songs (re-recorded then for Beyond The Ruins, with guest vocals), against the abhorrent sexism and machismo in punk and hardcore. How many times we hear words like "bitch", "pussy" or we are witnesses of male-centred attitudes who denigrate womyn? and this happens even in places that should be safe and free from hierarchies (anarchist collectives, hardcore and other alternative subcultures) "There's still a need for feminism, there was never any liberation. Given freedom to be consumerists is not a radical movement."
In the spring of 2006 they recorded "Beyond The Ruins" released by xCatalystx records, and is with this album that i completely felt in love with them, seriously.. everything in this full length is perfect, i could listen to it 4 times in a row everyday without getting tired of it!!!
"Green Scare" doesnt need explanations, we already know what it is, and as long as there is injustice....
"Dollar Signs to The Industry" talks about the torture, the pain and suffering that dairy industries inflict on cows and their babies.

"What You´re Thankful For" starts with a poem written by an Aztec poet around 1626 who survived after that Europeans destroyed their cities, and it reminds the continuing cultural genocide of Native Americans.
In "Crimson Dawn" (written by Lasse, former singer of Purified in Blood) they used a part of  "Monster", a movie about Aileen Wuornos, as intro ("We can be as different as we wanna be, but you can't kill people!  SAYS WHO?") and a quote by Bernardine Dohrn -member of The Weather Underground Organization in the early 70s- in the middle of the song: "There's no way to be committed to non-violence in the most violent society that history has ever created. I'm not committed to non-violence in any way.". The riffs of this song are purely awesome..
"Glimpses of Hope" well..read the lyrics.
"Power, Privilege and Wealth" is about how white supremacy culture is nothing but a crutch for multinational corporations who exploit third world countries and poor communities for their profit..
"And I know how you were raised, alright? And I know how people fuckin' think out there, and fuck, it's gotta be that way. They've gotta tell you that 'Thou shall not kill' shit and all of that. But that's not the way the world works, Selby. Cuz I'm out there every fuckin' day living it. People kill each other every day and for what? Hm? For politics, for religion, and THEY'RE HEROES! No, no... there's a lot of shit I can't do anymore, but killing's not one of them. And letting those fucking bastards go out and rape someone else isn't either!" another quote from the movie Monster, used for the intro of my favorite song of the album "Changed Minds", a powerful song about how patriarchy dominates the judicial system and how the state and its deviated culture control our autonomy. This reminds me of an afro american transgender woman sentenced in 2012 to 41 months in prison (released then in 2014) for stabbing to death a man after a racist, homophobic and transphobic attack against her and her friends in Minnesota.
"Domestication" is inspired by Ishmael , i totally love it and it gives me goosebumps, especially because this song addresses issues like agriculture, civilization and destruction of the earth, themes that are overly underrated by the animal rights and vegan movements/individuals, who often forget and deny the importance of rewilding and primitivism. "It's not so different from the factory farms where animals are confined"
"Chained to Weakness" makes a connection between monotheist religions and mind slavery.
The last song of the album is "Justice Coming", a cover from a 90s band called Framework, the bonus track includes a quote from the documentary-movie "Earthlings".
Oh and yeah, Gather was formed by Eva - vocals, Dustin (her brother) - drums, Randy - bass, Allan -  guitar.
Probably those who will read this review and already know Gather, will put their records on to remember how great they were...
For those who don´t know them yet, download the link below, read the interviews and the lyrics, and i hope you will love them like i do!

ps check the blog of this guy i know about his gather´s collection of merchandise and music,
http://xtotalvliberationx.blogspot.de/


Gather Discography

TOTAL LIBERATION LYRICS.

1. Done and Done
Perpetuating insecurity / Sexism won't be taken lightly / Trend hopper - you're not fooling anybody / Murderer - betraying the animals / Drinker - betraying your own morals / Now you'll have to face the monster you helped create

2. No Contest
 No one should have to ask for their life/let alone fight for it/we forget how dire the situation's become/because we are not the ones effected first hand/we're too comfortable! But the animals are defenseless so we must treat this war as our own/I too slip into the comfort of my own life everyday but the guilt cannot be absolved/no matter how much I wish it didnt have to be this way/No revolution will occur unless we act up/The animals need an army to fight for them/See how useless your pacifist views are now?/as long as I sit here, animals will be killed/veganism is crucial but we can't wait for the world to change their diets-(that's futile)/(my diet) prevents some slaughter but the fact still remains that billions are dying everyday/the only way to stop this is to physically set them free/saying you won't support this is saying you don't care/(ExC part) I refuse to turn my back, I refuse to shut my eyes/steadfast against the deluge of evil of man's devise/the quest of their freedom won't cease until it's won/reconcile your sins or you blood will have to run/to say we can legally win this war is insanity/if it were another human holocaust we'd be preparing for battle undoubtfully/you cant deny the suffering that is their every day lives/there are no rules in this fight/there's no action to harsh when the result is their liberation/"Fear" is crushed by the greatest sense of urgency and necessity/rationality? The case is inarguable!/persist or perish/join the struggle or watch their lives crumble/your faith in peace will lead off to cease/if we could have the masses on our side/then we wouldn't have to fight but we are the minority!/there is no contest-your tactic is bound to lead us into defeat

3. Escalate
Straight Edge cannot be considered the final goal / but in order to achieve the things that count the most, we must use it as a tool. / There is more to it than simply being drug free / it's the clarity of mind to act most effectively against this system we're fighting / It's the first step, it's the key to unlock you from your apathy / but if you stop at that, you're just a waste to me / You've broken your addiction, but now you just sit / as stagnant as a passed out frat-boy - you're no threat! / I know plenty of Christian who don't drink / Do they deserve praise for being revolutionary? NO! / Do you really believe that Straight Edge alone is going to do shit? / If drugs are the reason everyone's so passive, use your sobriety to act! / Do you think it's just about health? / The how does it effect anyone but you? / Now that you're liberated, what are you going to do? / Merely Straight Edge - not enough! / Merely Straight Edge - step it up! / If you think that we have things in common just because we both wear X's on our hands, you're wrong! / We both may abstain from substances, but that is not enough to make a bond.

4. I Hate Ayn Rand

'Individualism' is the mentality that you don't owe anyone anything. / "Don't tell me how to live my life and i won't tell you how to live yours" - Fuck that / Manifestation of living in a capitalist system / Everyone is just looking our for themselves / We shun and ignore the one that need our help / But our action affect everyone around us / And the choices we make have very real consequences / And the thing you demand and the things you take for granted... / Convenience for you could be the result of another's life / Step out of you little world... And open your eyes and your hearts! / A luxury for you could be the result of another's suffering / Can you trace the origins of what you consume back to torture and abuse?/ Never stop questiong / The unexamined life is not worth living / This is not PC chit chat / This is what it is to be a human being / Taking shortcuts to happiness / will not bring you a lifetime of fulfillment

5. Total Liberation
for every life for liberation / we're dedicated to bringing freedom for all enslaved / tear the blindfold from over your eyes / forget all that you thought you once knew / after 10, 000 years of telling lies / dedicated to spreading the truth / taking pride in this path that we tread / in defense of the earth / speaking out so the words of the voiceless can finally be heard / now's the time to take action for freedom / and justice deserved / FIGHT FOR LIFE / take a stand / for truth and compassion / there's no time to wait for change / show dedication / through your words and your actions / together we can end their suffering / TOTAL LIBERATION / smash hierarchy / don't buy into authority / strive for sustainability / resources are running out / discontent because we're not free / oppressors act out of greed / compassion and equality / are both necessary / reject the myths we were taught to believe / it's time to deprogram ourselves / question stereotypes and traditions / follow no gods, no masters / look at the root of racism, sexism, speciesism / and you'll see, it's all been fabricated to keep us apart / BREAK DOWN / THE BARRIERS / THAT ENSLAVE US ALL


SPLIT W/ 7GENERATIONS.

1. New Forms
No choices of our own, we've been assigned our roles from day one / Don't even know our own interests, never had the chance to discover what inspires us / Told that what we're taught in school is all that's worthy to pursue / Interests outside of it have no value, if it doesn't motivate you, "there must be something wrong with you"/ Spend all our time dedicated to the very few options given, outside of those narrow guidelines, we can hardly imagine there's anything more! No work today and it's bright outside but you don't know what to do now that you have your own free time / The TV has always been there to pacify and keep you from asking "what do I really like?" / So many years of buying the lies that through "production" is the only way we can feel satisfied / "If you're not earning money for the system you're wasting your time" but what answer will we find if we ask why? Aren't we just wasting our time for someone else just like slaves? / Fooling ourselves that we need it, that we should enjoy it, or at least accept it / Each day on the job we're being robbed! / They keep our food under lock and key to force us to operate this machine / Slaves were used to build this civilization surely our rules didn't want to end this tradition / It just changed forms, but we're still under their control! / Chattel slavery got too costly to provide food and shelter for their property / [Now They] leave that up to us and make us dependent they don't worry about us running away because we go to them / Is this all there is to life? Is this supposed to give me a purpose? / I would rather die than submit to that lie!

BEYOND THE RUINS.

1. The Green Scare
 Fear the Green Scare, the new Red Scare / "the number one domestic terrorism threat" / But it's no accident that lives are saved, not harmed in any case / Power and money, the only things at risk / When your power starts to slip, you tighten your grip / Repression from above, an old tactic of control / but as long as there's injustice, expect resistance / A fight against those value freedom is a war you will never win / With phone tapping and harassing, spying and lying / Infiltration, entrapment, you try to weaken their commitment / In the end, is it in your best interest to defend / that which leads to deforestation, extinction, cruelty, brutality? / Intimidate all you want, but the movement is stronger than that / Try to subdue, but the struggle will continue

2. Dollar Signs to the Industry
 You brought the myth that they're put here for us / Now see the hell that results from this / Treated so callously as if machines / Objects, mere dollar signs to the industry / Beaten on the head, stunned but not dead / Nose bleeding, confused, so trusting / Chocking under your foot, you hear it gasp for air / Life draining under your weight, struggling, and you don't even care / I watched you rip the skin right off of her body / Still alive, no where to hide, she can't express the fucking pain inside / Others are born into a cage, just to die by the blade / Their short lives in between pure suffering / No pain killers are used while enduring body mutilations / Most are neurotic due to lack of stimulation / Unable to turn around or spread a wing, unable to breathe fresh air, and they'll never be free / I watched you take her baby away, product of her annual rape / He'll be tortured just like her, until they're both murdered / No one to give them comfort, no one to make them feel loved / No happy ending for them, no one mourns her when they're gone / We'll never get to know her personality / Just another number, dead for your greed / Selfishness / Ignorance / Decides the fate of the innocent

3. What You're Thankful For
"Broken spears lie in the roads; we have torn our hair in grief The houses are roofless now, and their walls are red with blood. Worms are swarming in the streets and plazas, and the walls are plattered with gore. The water har turned red, as if it were dyed, and when we drink it, it has the taste of brine. We have pounded our hands in despair against the adobe walls, for our inheritance, our city, is lost and dead" ...as recalled by a poet of a culture that was wiped out at the hands of the barbarians known as Christians. Invaders of this land, "Murderers of this world". Driven by greed and self-righteousness they brought on the largest holocaust the world has ever known. Babies torn away from loving mother's arms. Thrown to dogs of war, devoured alive. Welcomed them with open arms. Just to have their hands cut off in return. Womyn were raped to prove who dominates. Hanged or burned or disembowled. In God's name, you shall be maimed. From the spread of disease to slavery, to slaughter and still being lied to, history denied. The truth is too depressing, hits too close to home. I blame you, missionaries. I blame the government, I blame every racist objectivist. Fuck the missionaries, fuck the government, fuck every racist objectivist.

4. Who Belongs
 How dare you turn a space meant to be about unity into a place that reflects the same old problems we face in society? You claim that there is equality, but have you asked the ones effected by your misogyny? No. There is no excuses for creating an environment where our sisters are made to feel self conscious, insecure, disrespected. Constantly having to prove herself, faced with skepticism and doubt. Being judged twice as hard, ignored but having so much heart. Or, cat calls--humiliating! Being grabbed at--so degrading! For everyone who believes in equality STAND WITH US. For everyone opposed to patriarchy STAND WITH US. Sexism comes in more forms than just violence and rape; certain attitudes and words can alienate. Gender's as arbitrary as race, no tolerance for discrimination in our scene. There's still a need for feminism, there was never any liberation. Given freedom to be consumerists is not a radical movement. And it may not be "cool" to stand against the crowd, DON'T LET THAT HOLD YOU DOWN. Punk is about doing what's right even if it means going against tha majority. This is not just a womyn's issue, it's time for boys and girls alike to take control of this matter, don't stand on the side in this fight. Not one good reason for this sense of exclusion. How did these traditional  views get inside and start running the shows here too? Let's FORCE THEM OUT.

5. Crimson Dawn

Gifted child, the demon of creation, reigning from a blood drenched throne / Spreading its wings of devastation, all life will drown / An empire consuming the Earth, draining it for all it's worth / In this world of mourning the truth is dead / Lead astray by greedy eyes, trapped behind a wall of capitalist lies / Blind to the blood on our hands, deaf to the anguished cries / In our complacent sphere omens have passed us by / Now we stand in the brink of our demise / I refuse to stand by and let fools destroy the world as they please / I wage a war to bring them to their knees / My oath doesn't offer the elite any peace / A sword forged to make them bleed / Their death will bring us salvation / Breaking the shackles of oppression / Ending these days of exploration / Hail the crimson dawn of revolution

6. Glimpses of Hope

 It's times like these, which come more often than I'd like / when it's almost impossible to look on the brightside / Everything I love, all I hold sacred, is threatened--doomed to be taken / It's rare I see beauty without thinking of it's inevitable end, how so much has been lost, or all that could have been / But I can't forget the glimpses of hope or the ones who refuse to give up / Time and time again, we've seen that a few with dedication can make great change, can bring about liberation / Cages cut open in the night / Animals run free for the first time / An act of love that saves lives / Corporations that seemed untouchable are now exposed and vulnerable / HLS on the brink of collapse due to uncompromising pressure from SHAC / In a world of insensitivity there is hope for the defenseless / The ones who have been caught, and those who remain unseen believe in the cause enough to risk everything / Those who've been caught, those who remain are the ones who will set the world free

7. Power, Privilege, Wealth
 This is a country built upon the system of white supremacy where the subjugation of people of color is justified "because it helps the economy". This exploitation has been deemed "necessary" exposing inherent racism in American ideology. "Progress" made doesn't benefit everybody, only the privileged, not the marginalized communities. Our civilization requires many to sacrifice against their own will, nothing in it for them. How can you justify, defend a country that weiws people as merely means to an end? Native American reservations used as nuclear testing sites. Irreversible damage to their land, their health, their lives. Clothes sold in the US made by womyn in Mexico in factories where humyn rights are negligeble. Just like when African slaves were called less-than-humyn so whites wouldn't feel guilty about abusing them. America still uses the mentality that it's ok to oppress nations and people of color for its own gain. To maintain privilege, power, and wealth it depends on keeping others down. The government doesn't care about you. To stay ahead in this world, there's nothing it won't do.

8. Changed Minds

 What "order" is being maintained here? To whose benefit are these laws for? Each situation not taken into account, so a racist classist sexist institution of forms. Womyn in prisons for self defense, kills her abuser, she finally fights back. Or a resistant assistant to a forceful man, but "battered womyn's syndrome must be a myth". And so her punishment will be more harsh because she's stepped out of her passive role. Of her own life, she van never have control. Stay helpless, don't try to break the mold. Enforcement of a random "norm" established by people I couldn't despise more. Prisons punish the desperate and those who refuse to conform, to uphold this system's shit, anyone who rejects it is a suspect. But crimes themselves are rarely the problem, they're jsut symptoms of a culture gone terribly wrong. Laws create a dependence on the State, they prevent us from taking matters into our own hands. Meanwhile the mass murderers, environmental destroyers, CEO's and their corporations remain free, their actions unpunished. Prisons never worked in the past, try something new. When will we take back our autonomy? When will we set ourselves free?

9. Domestication
 Scars cut deep into the mountainside / Logging hearses carry away the dead / Strip mining, relentless destruction Wildlife forced away to make room for the humyn kingdom / I see fields and fields of agriculture / row after row of monocrops, no diversity / It's not so different from the factory farms where animals are confined / Ownership of people is slavery, ownership of animals is the same thing / But ownership of the land is taken for granted due to generations of blind acceptance / No, you're not free, you never were / But nothing really is, ll is controlled / We're not the only one's having our autonomy stripped / In this Taker culture, anthropocentrism rules / Domestication of all life, the anti-thesis of liberation / We consume, we pollute, we exploit, we ignore / We'll pass on a desolate world where all that grows is what we choose, and all that lives is for our own use / We purchase the land as if it's rightfully ours and don't give a second thought to the lives we destroy / We're the rulers of this prison we've set up for everything / Wild animals and plants trapped in parks an preserves / We're a part of this world, just like everything else but we don't act that way

10. Chained to Weakness

Living a life dictated by faith alone, never questioning the validity of this morality; how much does this really benefit you or the world that surrounds you? This faith leads you to fear your god. Wouldn't you rather follow your desires than cower, impotent before an angry man in the sky that you aren't even sure exists? Paralyzed by fear, directed by your "duty" - submit today, hold out for a reward that will never come, willful slavery that stretches to eternity is this the heaven that awaits you? I renounce your sacrifice of will for conscious ignorance. I will turn my back on your blindness and open my eyes to a life that could be our heaven if we'd recognize the fires burning in our hearts. I'll tear down the holy towers - Unleash flames to cleanse your corrupt morality - Erase these lies from memory and leap into a world where we're the gods of our destiny.

INTERVIEW WITH MAXIMUM ROCK AND ROLL (2005)

MRR: You all have an interesting name for your band. Can you tell me why and how you chose the name Gather?

D: We decided to form as a band right after Total Liberation Fest in January of 2004. Kevin Tucker from the Green Anarchy Collective was there and it was the first time we had heard about hunting animals and eating roadkill in a radical context. We were starting to learn about anti-civilization theory and we were hearing anti-civilization folks talking about eating meat and being hunter-gatherers. So, part of it was emphasizing the “gather” aspect of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle.

E: Not only emphasizing the gather part, but eliminating the hunter part.

A: There is also another aspect to the name Gather. The double meaning
is that we are hoping to gather the punk and hardcore scenes to really bring about a positive change in our punk rock community.

D: We also wanted a one-word name as a throw back to some of our favorite bands from the mid-nineties, so we thought Gather would be perfect.

MRR: So you all took part in the Total Liberation Tour. Were you involved in the music part of the tour or the activism part of the tour?

E: Both
A: Yeah, both
D: We had just formed as a band in February (2004) right after the Total Liberation Fest in January and we were keeping in touch with the promoter of the tour. MAROON from Germany ended up not being able to come over to the US for the tour, so we were asked to fill in for them on the tour.

A: We were initially invited to go on just the west coast portion of the tour. We were totally excited to be able to tour the west coast with some of our favorite bands, and eventually more and more bands ended up dropping off the entire tour, so we were invited to do the nationwide tour.

E: We played music on the tour, but there was also a lot of activism. We did a lot of SHAC (Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, http://www.shacamerica.net/) demos and other actions during the tour that we would find out about. The tour was about music, but mainly about trying to get people in the hardcore scene involved in activism as well.

A: It was a music tour to inspire activism in the hardcore scene.

D: There were cities that we visited on the tour where we would find out that like just the day before a paper mill got burned down or something like that. So, it was really warming to come to a city and have activism go on. When we left New York there was a big SHAC demo going on. It was a good excuse for people to get political and it was fucking awesome that it happened to coincide with amazing hardcore music.

MRR: So, who were some of the activists on that tour that were most inspirational to you all?

D: On the tour itself, Brian D. from the Crimethinc (http://www.crimethinc.com/) Collective had some amazing things to say about connecting the freedom that we feel in a punk rock venue to the outside world and keeping that alive. That was inspiring to me.

R: Rod Coronado was definitely huge because he talked about his involvement with the Animal Liberation Front and Earth First!, going to prison for the things that he did, giving up his freedom to save lives. That was really inspiring as well.

E: Andy Stepanian from SHAC was also really inspiring. He talked about his time in prison that he spent for animal rights actions and he drew the connection between human behavior in prison and the behavior of animals in captivity. They go crazy and they get violent. It was interesting to hear the comparisons because we are no different from nonhuman animals put in those same situations. Both the prison system and laboratory animal captivity are equally fucked up.

A: For me, Andy was so inspirational compared with the other political speakers on the tour because he was a lot closer to us in age, and in perspective. I think he was a lot more involved with our daily activities on the tour. It made him a real person to us hardcore punk kids. Not just the political speakers were inspirational. I think that just being together as a band, and with the other bands, we all really collected our efforts to inspire each other.

D: The last guy that I want to acknowledge for inspiring me was Evan from the Coalition Against Civilization (http://www.coalitionagainstcivilization.org/). He spent a lot of time with us. He put up with a lot of shit because he eats roadkill himself. He tried to pretend he wasn’t very much of a hardcore kid, but he would put on the boxing gloves and take the microphone and sing Earth Crisis covers, and so it was just kinda like who the fuck are you kidding? But he was challenging at the same time in some positive ways to me personally. So, yeah, those are some of the people who made the tour what it was. If the tour was a failure in the sense of losing a lot of money, and bands dropping off, it really was, but even if it was just for the 30 kids who stuck it out for the whole 3 weeks, it was an entirely life-changing and motivating event. So, if for nothing else, for those involved, it was a success.

MRR: Some of my first experiences with the hardcore punk scene were with bands that were very political in their views on animal liberation and animal rights, and one thing that struck me about Gather is that you have that same intensity in your live show and in your lyrics that really got me excited about hardcore so many years ago. I have noticed a trend in the past few years where hardcore punk bands including some awesome DIY bands that I looked up to have watered down their lyrics, and their lives shows contain no political content whatsoever. I see a slight resurgence in that radical activism and political aspect of hardcore that I grew up with in bands like Gather and those that were on the Total Liberation Tour. What are your views on the de-politicization of hardcore punk?

R: I only consider bands that have political messages hardcore bands or punk bands. Bands that don’t have anything to say, I don’t consider them hardcore at all. Bands in the “hardcore” scene that don’t say anything – I don’t want to have anything to do with them. All of the bands that I look up to and that I think are hardcore today, really just stick to that traditional way of bringing the important messages into their music and lives as well.

A: There are a lot of bands that you can technically consider “hardcore” because they have distorted guitars and breakdowns and pit calls and they scream, so stylistically, yes, it resembles hardcore.
MRR: So maybe it is hardcore music, but not necessarily a hardcore lifestyle?

A: Oh, for sure. They are emulating a music style, but not necessarily bringing the emotion and political dialogue that I think is essential to hardcore and punk rock.

E: In the explanations in our zine I mention that one of the fundamental aspects that makes punk what it is – is that it’s gotta be a threat to the dominant culture. And when you eliminate that by taking out the politics and just making it about having fun, which is a crucial part, but that’s not all it’s about. When you eliminate the fundamental aspect of punk – then it’s not punk anymore.

A: But that’s not to say that hardcore can’t be fun. I think hardcore should be fun, and fun is definitely crucial. But when you strip the politics away from the music, I think you’re left with nice tunes.

MRR: In your song “Escalate” you sing about straightedge kids and apathy. As an activist oriented straightedge band, what are your views on the current straightedge movement?

A: There are lots of bands out there that play “hardcore” style music, but to us, aren’t hardcore bands. I would say that, most anyone could be straightedge. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re taking a stand against anything really. By definition, yes they may be straightedge because they are not partaking in drug culture, by that doesn’t make them any sort of activist.

E: It is important to take a stand against drug culture because we are overwhelmed with media advertising beer or whatever, so it is a big deal to reject that. But what is the point of keeping a sober mind and healthy body if you’re not gonna use it to somehow better the world? It seems to be a sorta selfish purity thing. If you’re not gonna stand for anything other that abstaining from substances, then what is the point?

MRR: So are you saying that straightedge should be used as a weapon or a tool to better youself?

E: Yeah, its not the end, it’s the means to an end. It’s not like the ultimate goal is to be pure and clean, it’s be pure and clean so that you can be most effective as an activist.

R: Straightedge began as a label for punks who rejected drug culture. The point of being punk is to resist all the forms of oppression that face us every day. So, what it really comes down to is, in order to be straightedge, you have to be an activist too. I’m not one to tell someone they’re not straightedge, but in order to actually be effective as someone who’s straightedge, you need to be an activist.

A: I think a lot of where that song came from was from our own observations here in our scene in Northern California. There are a good number of straightedge kids here. A lot of kids come out to the straightedge shows. We’ve also noticed, at the same time, even though they were straightedge, they could still be sexist, racist, they could still be homophobic and uphold all of these values that we were trying to take a stand against.

D: We realized that kids who were x-ing up didn’t necessarily have anything in common with us just because we also had x’s on the backs of our hands. So these fucking sexist assholes who eat meat and are fucking Christian losers, it was like, why the fuck would I ever want to stand alongside those losers. So, this song is just a call to those people to not be “merely” straightedge as we call it.

A: To me, that song isn’t meant to belittle those people, but to hopefully gain them as an ally. To bring them to a place where they can realize that straightedge can be something that they can use to better their own lives and to take a stand against things that are much greater than their own lives and their own ideas of purity.

R: Yeah, and fuck religion. [laughs]
D: Yeah, Christians stay the fuck out of our scene. [laughs] And I want to say that it looks like veganism is on the upswing in the hardcore scene which is awesome, and we’re gonna do everything we can to perpetuate that, but at the same time we need to take a stand against sexism in the scene. Toughguy bullshit is on the way out, and if it means pointing people out every time they heckle and they say bitch or anything like that we just need to turn the tables on them and make them feel as uncomfortable as all of our female allies have been made to feel uncomfortable themselves.
MRR: I’ve been able see you all play for the last three nights in a row, and two nights ago you played with 7 GENERATIONS from Orange County. Gather has a split 7” coming out with them soon. Can you tell me about your friendship with that group of young men, and how you came to know each other?

E: They are our best friends. They’ve been a huge inspiration to us being one of the only other vegan straightedge bands in California. They don’t hesitate or water down their lyrics or message. I like how in your face they are. In between songs they are always addressing the issues in their lyrics. They are definitely an amazing band. We are really excited to have a split with them. We are going to write a big zine that will come with it and try to bring back having literature at shows. Most of the things that I believe in today, I learned about through punk bands.

R: We want to push the political aspect of our music as hard as possible. It means so much to me because I got into hardcore hanging out with the kids from 7 GENERATIONS, and so it is incredible to be in a band that will be side by side with them bringing back what hardcore was in the nineties.

D: These were friends of ours before either 7 GENERATIONS or Gather were bands, and I think we both came to the realization that hardcore kids were thirsty for activism again, so both bands formed around the same time, and have just been yelling out at the top of our lungs the message that fueled us as 15 and 16 year olds. Lo and behold, 15 and 16 year olds now are reacting the same way we did. I don’t know if you have to go through a trough before you can go up to a swell again or not, but it’s just kind of disappointing that there was such as big void. The end of the nineties was kind of a slippery slope to fall into – emotional music about relationships and stuff – and it was appealing at first, but I’m just so grateful for a resurgence of political hardcore.

A: 7 GENERATIONS have been our friends for a long time, and we have played a lot of shows with them. One thing that is really unique about 7 GENERATIONS is that they are really true people. I think they are very true to the things that they sing about and talk about as a band, but beyond that, they are true to us as friends. I am really honored to be doing the split 7” with them.

MRR: You all just did a week west coast tour with Kurt from Catalyst Records on second guitar. How was tour Kurt?

K: It was a good time. It was a pleasure being on the road with a band that I think is awesome. Gather is one of my favorite bands out there. It was a great experience for me, definitely.

MRR: A lot of people go vegan for a variety of reasons. I recently learned that Eva went vegetarian after reading RUDIMENTARY PENI lyrics. What does veganism mean to each of you, and why did you each decide to adopt this lifestyle?

D: I was in a punk band called POLITICAL SUICIDE with my sister (Eva) and some friends in high school. The guitar player and my sister went vegetarian and I was like what the fuck is going on? I picked up a pamphlet that they had about testing on kittens for Proctor and Gamble products and it was atrocious. It showed a kitten’s head immobilized with bars going in the eyes and mouth and I was like “that is so fucked up.” I picked up a burger and I made the connection for the first time and I felt like a hypocrite. So I went vegetarian. I went vegan 2 years later with Eva.

E: At first I saw all the flyers at punk shows and I read lyrics to my favorite band, RUDIMENTARY PENI, and it kind of opened my eyes to how fucked up factory farms are and how horribly food animals are treated, and to me it was simply about the individual animal’s welfare. I just realized that as an animal lover all of my life, how could I continue to support these things? Later, the idea of anthropocentrism, and how fucked up it is that we as humans think that everything is at our disposal, and as long as it benefits humankind, it must be justified, kind of played into it all. And, as part of being an anarchist, and rejecting hierarchies, it only made sense to go vegan.

R: I had a lot of friends that were vegan and vegetarian and I listened to bands like CRASS and SUBHUMANS and ANTI-PRODUCT who talked about animal suffering. They were so passionate about it, and that made me question myself and my actions. I wanted to learn about the industries that I was supporting and continued to learn about the suffering of animals. I went vegetarian pretty quickly after informing myself of what was going on. I went vegan after deciding that the dairy industry isn’t any better than the flesh industry or leather or animal testing industries.

A: I went vegetarian when I was 15. I started getting into hardcore when I was probably about 14 or 15. I feel like at the time there was a lot more dialogue going on about animal rights. I remember going to shows and picking up pamphlets and flyers and I had a little collection of them that kinda just collected dust. I had a little pile in my room of literature and every once in a while I would glance through it. When I was 15 I was listening to a song called “Waste” by GOOD RIDDANCE, and that’s what made me decide to go vegetarian. I was getting into bands that had something to say about animal rights, like EARTH CRISIS and other bands. It wasn’t until 4 years later that I committed myself to going vegan. I think it was at this time that I realized that the meat industry and the dairy industry are essentially the same thing. They operate hand in hand. I could no longer ignore that.

MRR: What I am reading from you guys is that going vegan was more than just a diet change, or for the animals. It was sort of rethinking the way we consume all types of products. It was thinking about where things come from, and whether or not the creation of that product had a violent impact on animals or the earth and how capitalist consumer culture plays into that. What are some of your thoughts on consumer culture?

R: The ideal situation would be to eliminate capitalist consumption all together. To eliminate the possibility for corporations to survive in our society. And to stop supporting animal exploitation industries or corporations that openly exploit human labor such as Nike or Wal-Mart will cut it down. It can be taken further through dumpster diving which is a huge way to reduce your consumption which takes products out of the cycle of consumerism. I think those things are very important as well as direct attacks on corporations that continue to exploit.

D: Veganism and straightedge, for me, have both always been more than just the issue of not eating meat or not drinking beer for purity reasons. There has always been the aspect of anarchism in there. Not wanting to support industries that profit off of polluting people’s bodies, torturing sentient creatures, and raping the land at the same time. Those things by themselves have always been tools in reshaping the worldview that has been whispered to me since I was born. It’s still a process, and one good anecdote to illustrate that is that I was vegan for two years before I was really convinced of the individuality of each animal that is saved when you go vegan. I would just add up all of the figures about how bad it is for the topsoil and the atmosphere and how many gallons of water are used to produce meat versus grain. And so I was vegan for two years before I really internalized the very real individuality of every animal. Since then, veganism has been so much easier. I love veganism, and for me, the end result is reducing consumption and lightening my footstep.

R: Even things like wheat and modern agriculture at the scale that we have undertaken it is still exploitation of the earth, and as of now there is not a way to get a large amount of people the leave that system. Modern agriculture is based upon the idea that we should be able to use the earth in whatever way we want to. We are trying to fight against the idea that we can just take anything, and make it how we want it. There are other beings out there that have lives that should not be dictated by humans.
MRR: If someone is interested in what you guys have to say, what are some websites, books, magazines, or other resources that you would recommend checking out?

A: for those who are interested in veganism some good websites to check out are http://www.veganoutreach.org and http://www.goveg.com. at those sites you can learn all the reasons why a vegan lifestyle is better for animals, the environment, and your health. for further information on veganism and compassionate living i recommend reading A DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA by John Robbins, ANIMAL LIBERATION by Peter Singer, and FREE THE ANIMALS by Ingrid Newkirk. also i personally recommend DAYS OF WAR, NIGHTS OF LOVE (Crimethinc.), ISHMAEL by Daniel Quinn, and BLACK HAWK; an autobiography.

R: The rest of Daniel Quinn's work has been pretty influential to me as well. I would also suggest checking out No Compromise magazine, Bite Back (http://www.directaction.info), and Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (http://www.SHACamerica.net) for info on people that are actually saving animals' lives. Green Anarchy is also a pretty good zine. For humyn political issues I like INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND ITS FUTURE by Ted Kaczyski, WE ARE EVERYWHERE: THE IRRESISTIBLE RISE OF GLOBAL ANTICAPITALISM, and most of what CrimethInc. has put out. The Plus Minus Records website also has an online version of the Hardcore/Punk Guide to Christianity that is pretty awesome.

E: Derrick Jensen's The Culture of Make Believe is an awesome book, Carrol Adam's The Sexual Politics of Meat, and right now I'm reading The Unnatural Order by Jim Mason, and that rules so far too.

SECOND INTERVIEW STRAIGHT FROM THE INSIDE ZINE

1) Take us through a few milestones of Gather's band history.

Dustin: Cool. Gather started in early 2004 after everyone in the band attended the Total Liberation Fest in Erie, PA. Allan and I were living together, and felt compelled to create the type of music we liked best. Genie, my sister, began singing and writing her awesome lyrics soon thereafter. Randy moved up to NorCal from SoCal and started playing bass. Gather was set on its line-up and we soon became like family.

We recorded our demo/e.p. with Scott from Earth Crisis, made a 'zine to accompany our self-released demo, and went out on the Total Liberation Tour in the summer of 2004. It was on that tour that we decided to work with Eric Vanguard and New Eden Records – he released the demo as our e.p., and went on to release our split 7" with Seven Generations. Our songs for the split were also recorded with Scott Crouse.

We were able, then, to do a west coast tour, play in Mexico City, Mexico, and start writing songs for the full length.

At this time, Allan went back to grad school to get his master's degree in education and a teaching credential. We decided that when he graduated, we'd release a full length and tour a lot.

So, we recorded our full length, Beyond the Ruins, with Vic DiCara of the band 108. We released it on xCatalystx Records, toured the US over the summer 2006 with Seven Generations and Kingdom, then toured Europe in winter of '06 with To Kill. Our last little tour was with xBishopx. We then played our infamous show at the Earth Crisis reunion, and played our amazing last shows before calling it quits.

I'd say that those are our biggest milestones.

2) What made you want to start playing music? Was it something you always wanted to do or was it just for shouting political lyrics and preaching vegan straight edge lifestyle?

We all started playing music years ago. We all played music before we were very political, but we all were involved in playing some form of 'punk'. We all happened to get political and into Veganism and Straight Edge, and even Anarchism before the band started. We decided to play the music in Gather because we wanted to capture the sound of some of our favorite bands from the 90's, like Chokehold, Another Victim, and Culture. We were also really influenced by current bands we were playing with, namely Purified in Blood, Make Move and Seven Generations.

We also decided that as of late 2003, early 2004, in California, there was a huge drought of political messages in hardcore. We wanted to espouse the message of, primarily, Animal Liberation, but soon came to realize that all liberation struggles are linked, and really sang about Total Liberation.

3) What was the main goals that Gather has achieved during these years? In terms of the hardcore scene what major changes have you seen, positive and negative?

When we started as a band, we didn't know many people from our local hardcore scene, or the VSXE scene at large. We were just huge hardcore fans, committed to the scene and the ethics. We made up some 'fantasy goals' that we never expected to achieve, such as: Put out a record, tour the US, play with Purification, sign to xCatalystx Records, and go to Europe. J Those are the goals we achieved that we never thought we would. Some of our goals that we never achieved were playing with xMaroonx, going to Japan, playing with Point of No Return, and touring South America.

The hardcore scene in the past few years has gotten better in some ways, in my opinion. There are a lot more political, VSXE kids now than there were seven or eight years ago. There are a lot of bigger bands who don't mind showing their pride in their convictions. So those things are cool. I don't even want to talk about any of the negative things that have come into being recently, we all know what they are: fashionable kids snaking their way into an underground scene and asshole jocks moshing to look cool rather than to have fun.

4) At the moment there is a lot of state violence and police opression towards green anarchist, radical ecologist and animal liberation activists in the United States. Can you tell us a bit more about that as I think a lot of people here in Eastern Europe know not so much about it. How does Gather take part in supporting SHAC7 and other Green Scare and AETA's victims? Only benefit shows, benefit CDs? What are some of the things you can do to support these political prisoners?

The US, in the past year, has really cracked down on environmental and animal rights groups. Most notably, the SHAC 7 were found guilty and sentenced to years in prison for being a part of an effective campaign against a corporation, Huntingdon Life Sciences. I urge any readers to check out http://www.shac7.com. There have also been FBI infiltrators and snitches involved in busting activists in California. The ALF and the ELF are considered the number one domestic "terrorist" threat in the US.

Gather has tried to educate people about the Green Scare through our lyrics and our speeches. We have donated a little bit of money, after breaking up, to political prisoners. We try to keep in touch with some prisoners through mail. Keeping in touch with prisoners, and supporting them, is the most important aspect of the struggle, because if those who have been caught are forgotten, then no one will persevere.

All of those things are ways that people can support prisoners: letters, donations, and support, ideologically. We must be willing to support radicals when it comes down to times of action – through allegiance and through direct assistance.

Finally, I've heard political prisoners say that the best thing someone can do to support them is by carrying out actions on their own! News will get to them in prison that the action was carried out! What better way to show your support ideologically than by covertly following in their footsteps?

5) What's your view on PETA and the mainstream activism? It seems that for some of the animal rights movement's actions, the goal is not really to make the most strategic or meaningful change for the animals, but that they are done to get the most media coverage. In case of prisoners support maybe it's good to get a mainstream media coverage.

I dunno, it's my opinion that mainstream activism is ineffectual and, for the most part, thrives on animal abuse industries existing (in order to receive donations and shit). This isn't to say that the people involved don't have compassion, but that their tactics are ineffectual.

This does not mean that I consider LEGAL tactics ineffectual, just 'mainstream' ones. There are lots of things that people can do that have very little or no risk that work well: home demos, live rescues, disrupting events, etc. Although it is easy to glamorize the 'big', illegal actions one can carry out I think there also needs to be a push for more people to be active regardless of how chic their actions are.

6) What do you do to uphold your beliefs in every day life outside of your band? What projects and collectives are you involved with?

None of us are involved in any collectives. Allan is teaching full time at an alternative school in California, I work full time and am involved in other bands, Eva and Randy both live without having jobs. In America, if you don't have a benefactor, it's very difficult to live without holding down a job, and so personal activism is a must for making that possible. That's all I really wanna go into here!

7) How can we close the gaps that exist between the different activist movements that hinder their individual growth?

I don't know that this is possible. The biggest push I've seen, in recent memory, to close the gaps between different activists groups was during the SHAC 7 trial. There was a big push to make people realize that even though the SHAC 7 were animal liberation activists, that the case infringed on free speech – in essence calling in liberal groups to support the SHAC 7 on the grounds of protecting free speech and limiting the govt.'s ability to arrest, detain, and sentence people who have committed no illegal crime. But in a post 9/11 AmeriKKKa, this is not an uncommon occurrence, especially for people of color.

I don't think that activism groups will ever combine into one big Total Liberation movement simply because the people that constitute most activist groups are single issue minded people. People who focus on their single issue blind themselves to the interconnectedness of all liberation struggles. People who DO recognize the interconnectedness of all liberation struggles tend to shift over to a sort of lifestyle activism or anarchism, in order to challenge the system as a whole. So in this way, the body of people who WOULD constitute the Total Lib activism movement actually shy away from the type of visible activism defined by single issue groups because they recognize the short-sightedness and tunnel-vision of single issue activist groups.

What's your opinion on primitivism, anti-technology and symbol culture rejection?

This path of thought is what most intrigues me, personally, and is one that I consider has the most relevancies as time goes on. 'Primitivism' and primitive skills are important, as they remind people that survival outside of cities and taker cultures depends on SKILLS, not necessarily money. Particularly paying close attention on how to live/survive in the absence of gasoline. None of us fully realize how dependent we are all on gasoline, and as gas continues to peak, and eventually disappears, will any of us know ways of surviving/thriving?

Symbol culture rejection, as you put it, is what I consider to be one of the best ways to maintain sanity in a world increasingly bombarded with mental pollution. Taking a little bit from Situationists and from current anthropologists and philosophers who recognize the origins of our abstraction dependent culture, one can begin to conceptualize a life free from dependence on TV, magazines, clocks, and hopefully, eventually, domestication.

As crazy as this all seems now, I think these skills will reveal themselves as valuable as time goes on: re-conceptualization of 'time', anti-domestication, survival skills, and small scale community units.

9) You're going to play your last shows with Earth Crisis on their reunion. What's your opinion on Earth Crisis and all the controversials they've got?

We did not play our last shows with Earth Crisis. We were asked to play their one California reunion show, which we were initially very excited to play. We learned a lot from Earth Crisis when getting into hardcore, and recorded our e.p. and split 7" with Scott Crouse, their guitar player.

We were all a little bit oblivious to the controversy surrounding Earth Crisis because we're about 5 years too young, although we now have an understanding of some of these controversies and the relevancy they had in the context of the 90's hardcore scene. I'd say that my opinion now is that I probably would have liked them less if I were the person I am now, ten years ago. But growing up in a small town where all I was going off of was their lyric sheet and song explanations, I consider them valuable to my life and the scene I am involved in.

10) How do you see the homophobia and other kind of discriminations occurring in the US hardcore scene? What's your opinion about the homophobe and crooked sexual hardline stances of Vegan Reich followers back in the day and their reflections now?

Those who spend time rationalizing and publicly defending the insane idea that homosexuality is either unnatural or 'wrong' are fucking pathetic. We do not consider these homophobes to be a part of any scene worth mentioning, and are certainly not involved in ours. Hardline is dead and anyone who claims to be maintaining the movement is fetishizing the past, is ignorant to how people live outside of their bullshit moral constructions, and will fade away in due time because there is no scene to support them. I hate the few people I know of now who still regurgitate the old hardline rhetoric on message boards.

11) You have a deal against the organized religion and the Church of Christ. But what about Islam and other states of mind and religious connected cults within the vegan straight edge movement?

Any band or hardcore kid who tries to preach a lifestyle of compliance to a religious moral order should stay the fuck out of hardcore and go waste their life away in their own church.

12) Do you think the recent attacks by the USA and its supporters on Islamic countries will escalate into something far worse?

Of course. The acts of 'terrorism' carried out by AmeriKKKa on other countries on behalf of economic gains and at the behest of lobby groups supporting Israel will definitely result in retaliation by those affected. The term is 'blowback' – when we carry out acts of terror and large scale murder, those political decisions tend to 'blowback' in our face.

13) What about the Palestinian occupation by Israel?

We recognize that this is a very complicated issue, and that even the most educated experts on this issue are divided on their opinions. I, however, have nothing but disdain for Israel and their policies of murder. I hate them on so many levels. I hate Israel because they use missiles to murder Palestinians, but call the Palestinians who use suicide bombs terrorists because they can't afford the same weapons to retaliate with. I hate Israel for pressuring the USA into starting their wars and supporting them on their conquests, while at the same time scoffing in the face of Amerikkka by building walls and furthering conquest, even against the wishes of the U$ govt. I hate conservative Amerikkkans who support Israel on the grounds that possession of Palestinian land is necessary for the biblical end times to commence. The cultural genocide happening in Palestine as a result is as devastating as the loss of life and land. Fuck the U$A and fuck Israhell for their crimes against people and the earth.

14) There are some extreme right wing vegan straidght edge bands and people in Europe. The straight edge lifestyle and that radical hardcore scene ideals has yet to be exposed in a way from within the neo-nazi community. There are active national socialists who take a part in the animal rights and eco-defence movement. If the animal/earth liberation is the objective What about Nazis who have the same views as you? Would you work alongside people like these if they were holding a demos and direct action against vivisection, meat industry, fur farms?

Of course not. Those people are so full of contradictions and are not fighting for freedom and equality. Gather has always been an anarchist band striving for autonomy and equality. The meat industry needs to fall by any means necessary, but for no reason should we have to stand united with people that we would normally call enemies.

15) What do you know about Bulgaria?

Before looking at Wikipedia? Nothing! L But after looking at Wikipedia let me say welcome to the EU! haha

16) Band members projects after the split?

I am involved in three new projects right now. They are still in the very beginning stages. If anybody is interested, add Gather on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/gather and keep your eyes peeled for bulletins about future bands. Nobody else is really working with any other projects, although Allan is writing music for a project that he hopes to get going soon. His goal is to, 'write the next Firestorm.' Allan is currently working on the third issue of his 'zine What We Have! Wish him luck!

17) Your final words..

Thank you for your patience in getting this interview back late. Thank you for your interest and support! If anybody has any questions, feel free to contact me at ibdrugfree@gmail.com! Thank you!
-Dustin Hall, drummer of Gather







THIRD INTERVIEW