The Taqwacores

A couple years back some kids made a movie at the Tower 2012 and now it's big shit on MtV and showed this week at the Cleveland International Film Festival. Now I'm not saying it's because of us or anything, but let's all agree they had the RIGHT IDEA in how to dress "The Straight Edger."

View the Trailer here:

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Calling all photographers...

If you happen to have any photos of Right Idea--any, at all--no matter the resolution, format, etc, then please send them our way: xjohnmillinx@yahoo.com



We lost a machine, and with it you know, pictures, layouts, etc. RIP John's computer. The only pictures we have left are these of Chuck:


Coincidentally, you can get this same picture emblazoned on your favorit white t-shirt at our webstore. Thanks in advance for any photos y'all might have layin' 'round.

THROWBACK THURSDAY (Happy Anniversary)

This week marks the year anniversary of the birth of this blog. Might as well have a party!

How bout October 4th around 7ish hardcore time? I'll get a handful of the best sXe bands around and we can all mosh! Yall in? But, yeah thanks to all the kids that still read our bullshit and that are still into the tunes, the edge, not the edge, hardcore, tattoos, hip hop, baseball, politics, shoes, whatever... thanks.

Question. Did yall get your records yet? Let me know! I have one, but it has donuts inside for some reason... don't ask. Well you can, i'll just say white trash bash 08. (fail, sorry dan, t, and kent).

Yo, search youtube for the weezy blog. It's late and I'm too lazy to put a link. You'll be about it. Don't worry. I'm bout it bout it. what are you about?

bass heads for cheap? holla at cha boy. bass heads for not cheap? how can i steal one?

record release shirt printed out of 25. couple smalls not many M's more L's and 8 tall t's dig me?

Nate, what's good? hows school/life bro?

LOOK

hope this helps is an empire. were taking over.

Sir Straight Edge

How's Your Edge?

Depending on how loud you listen to your music, and the frequencies they emit, evidently, your edge could be in jeopardy. This company is claiming that through the purchase of their earphones and mp3 packs, they can replicate the "high" experienced when taking such illicits as cocaine, marijuana, absinthe, peyote, and etc (god, there's a whole helluva lot of drugs out there!)

Evidently this phenomenon has been around since the late 19th century. Kinda seems like Psywarfare just got PWNED.

Face Reality!

Our friends in Face Reality,from Michigan, finally recorded their demo and it's def my current listen of choice. You can hear a couple of songs on their myspace. It was supposed to be recorded about a month ago but, as we ourselves are well aware of, hardcore time is a whole other story. I think the official release date will be at their next show on August 19 but def keep tabs on their myspace for ordering info. They chose to go the classy route and will have cassette demos, with possible limited covers for those who care..."I know I care". Solid 4 song demo and we look forward to sharing the stage with them in the future. The bonds are growing from Michigan down to West Virginia!

What's up Murray

The past couple of days I've been busy catching up on FOTC episodes and Wimbledon. This post caters to fans of both. I'm pushing for Nadal to come out on top. That guy is great, his volley game is incredible. Face Value last night was a great time. More people should have showed up. There's something about Erba smashing beer bottles on amps and then vigorously slicing his forehead that makes it all worth it. Yes, there was old guy mosh and dread lock rasta mosh. It was a great time. Back to tennis, the game that counts is on now. Federer v. Nadal. Watch it. And instead of tye dying your RI shirt, you should really cut the collar out, tear the sleeves off and make it a belly shirt. Ebay gold.

Betrayed in Tokyo

Just a quick update on Betrayed and their trip to Japan.



My internet/email/blog friend Dobek was there to hang with Aram and the boys. He even posted some vids of the final Betrayed show and the show the other night.

Take a trip to his blog HERE. Nice shirt Aram!

Before It's Too Late

Since arriving home I've been busy with work and the babe and job hunting. Also sleeping in till 4pm. Here is a quick slide show of the important parts of our past weekend in California.

What's up Alcatraz. Uncle John soon after bought us all ICEES but complained with the guy made us cherry and lemon mixes.




After that we hit the road








***INSERT PHOTOS AND STORIES FROM THE GILMAN***

So we arrive and nate wants to check out the north face store to see some jacket with a furnace inside. We were all zombies and just wanted to sleep so i don't think we were to into it. There was a skate park down the street as well. Nate hit that up while the rest illed in the van with the AC on. Next we arrived at the venue. Nice people welcomed us and we loaded in the merch and guitars. MINDSET showed up a short time after and the hangouts began. There were a good amount of kids there for the show. MINDSET's set was really tight. Foreign Nature played. It was on the hard side. I was into it. THEN Carl pulled a nice little prank. Dude said he was going on a walk at 1030p and was no where to be found at 1230a. We spent 30 mins looking for him, we really thought he was dead. John lets this punk guy use his phone and hears us talking about Carl. After he was finished on the phone the kid was like " are you talking about that kid sleeping on the couch?" The kid took us into the almost locked up venue to this secret couch room with who else but Michael mouth wide open drooling sprawled out on a dirty couch. We all were pissed, but thankful that he wasn't dead. The band went on to eat a late dinner at a Thai place, I just stayed in the van and slept. Thanks to Hook and Jori (sp) who took us in for the night. We left yall a surprise. Hope you found it. 8am wake up and drive! We stopped at a Jack in the Box for breakfast. Yikes... Next stop baseball.

Outside Dodgers Stadium



Inside Dodgers Stadium



This is the best kid ever. His dad supplied him with a spray bottle and no one in our section was safe.



After the game we were headed to Che Cafe. This is a shot of the merch table. It was outside and very comfortable. Che Cafe was a great spot. If ever close, stop.



Just a shot of how crowded it was. A lot of kids showed up.



The Betrayed set = insane.



Post gig hangouts with Phil, Chad, and Sarah.



Beach at 4am



Beach at 8am. We slept a lot on this trip.



after sleeping for 30 seconds at Nates bros apt we headed north to LA. Stoped at Manhattan Beach for a stint. I was bummed to realize that i only took 2 pictures here. It was nice. John and I took a dip and then shared a towel. No homo. After I took this John went in the ocean with his sunglasses on, came out with a frown.



Three words, OXNARD and FRED HAMMER. REP!



Another post gig shot of the kids in Santa Barbara. Mike and Chad are MIA in this one. I'm pissed.



Over all best weekend of the summer. I had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us. Don't forget SOH this Saturday at Peabodies. I have to work so ill be there 3 mins before we play and 3 mins after. I win for longest post ever.

What yo name is? Where you come from?

Mindset is a four (now five)- piece youth crew band from Maryland. At Youngblood Fest I overheard Evan, frontman of Mindset, talking about some crucial non-hardcore shit -- you know, the environment, religion, etc: the things that get overlooked that people feel very differently about. I also found out he was a "schoolie," much like myself, absorbed in his academic interests. I made my mind up that I was going to get his take on some things for the blog/impending 'zine. The following was conducted via the Internet in late May 2008:

IYC: Name, age, location and what's your favorite Warzone song:

EW: Evan "Ev" Wivell, 21, Baltimore MD, Fuck Your Attitude

IYC: How many years have you been X'ed up--when and how did this lead into you fronting Mindset? Who else is in the Mindset and what y'all 'bout?

EW: I've always had that weird feeling that all edgemen tend to have, that little voice inside your head that sounds like Jules and is constantly telling you that what everyone else is doing isn't all it's cracked up to be. I never understood why everyone wanted to party so much and I always felt uneasy in those situations. Then I met Mike (MINDSET's guitar player, Ev's best friend) in my tenth grade biology class and he introduced me to the straight edge. We grew up in a small town, I grew up on a farm, so finding a kid like Mike who agreed with everything I was thinking and had the records to back it up was pretty amazing. Anyway, I was always the kid who hung out with my friends' bands but I was never in a band because I'm tone deaf and can't keep a beat for more than a few seconds, and I'm generally just confused about how music works in general. I started a band with all the current MINDSET dudes and another friend that started out as a joke to give me a chance to be in a band. That band was called "once we were girls..." and was pretty fucking radical shit. MINDSET (Anti-Wasteoids at the time) was a three piece with a rotating fourth man looking to expand with Mike on guitar and vocals. Once it was discovered that I was a competent frontman I was asked to join the band. Phil "Cold Cut" Price joined shortly after on drums, and the original Anti-Wasteoid bassist quit the band to pursue a glamourous tattooing career. Chad filled his vacancy. We're all best friends and collectively love Diane Lane movies, twizzlers, hot tubs, wednesday night basketball, indian food and creating music together. It's hard to put into words how much I love those clowns.

IYC: You guys have been really busy playing shows from Chicago to the East Coast lately--what does the future hold? Records? Tours?

EW: My last response was super long so I'll keep this short... the next year has the potential to be more awesome than we ever expected a year could be. We're going to California in two weeks with THE RIGHT IDEA for what I can only imagine will be the most crucial of times. And there will be records. Right now we're planning a 7" for late summer and an LP in early 2009 on REACT! Records, which is currently the classiest label in punk rock.

IYC: So at Youngblood fest, in between ripping through a Chain cover and several smokin' originals, you said something like, "Saving the environment is great, but when companies turn that around and sell it to you, that's messed up..." Sorry if my paraphrase is wrong, but how do you feel about corporate 'greenwashing' of so many things these days?

EW: The whole situation is a little sticky. First, I'l paraphrase myself: The world we live in is an incredible and beautiful place, but it is also increasingly delicate and sensitive. I feel like the general public takes its environment and the inherent quality of it for granted and our respect for it has been decreasing for some time. I'm not saying anything new or revolutionary (see John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, 4 Walls Falling, and to a lesser extent, hippies) and I don't claim to be. However, it has become incredibly popular for people to strive to 'do their part' for the sustainability of our planet in the name of being 'green.' I should be happy, right? Wrong. I'm irritated as hell. Like most trends, the powers that be (and the powers that want to be) have swooped down on a beautiful, innocent concept and tainted it for financial gain. It's become a political tool, a marketing ploy, and a green, soy-based flag to be waved by pretentious 20-somethings. Its like those damn magnetic yellow "Support Our Troops" ribbons. Now don't get me wrong, my brother is a Marine and I love that asshole. I think that soldiers deserve our respect for taking an active and incredibly dangerous role in support of a cause that they believe in. It's incredibly admirable and more than most of us can ever claim to do. I also happen to think that supporting troops and buying a $1 piece of plastic from a 7-11 have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Its all a facade, man. You wanna support the troops, send a soldier some clean socks or buy them dinner (or body armor), and do it without putting a sticker on your car. You wanna support the earth? Live consciously. Take less, give more. Waste less and put the waste you can't avoid in its proper place, and stop throwing your fucking cigarettes on the ground. Instead of buying "green" products, try not having to buy anything or make sure what you are buying is really the best option. Sure, you can ride your bike to Whole Foods and buy a mango in Baltimore in January because its organic, or you can realize the total energy expended to get that mango to you and maybe do without it for a few months. I guess what I'm saying, if you skipped that whole rant and ended up here, is that we beautiful ideas will become a grotesque cartoon of themselves if we can't realize them in their purest forms. This "green" trend, like all trends, will be cast aside for the next big thing when it's been played out. There shouldn't be a separation between green people and regular people, just conscious people.

IYC: You're studying Architecture, what perspective does that bring to your day-to-day that other HC kids might not have?

EW: Although I can't comment on how other HC kids see things, having an architectural background has definitely changed the way I perceive the world. I feel like I'm able to see a lot of beauty in things that other people might overlook. I see things as patterns and forms, solids and voids. The way ice breaks, how a field of millions of individual blades of grass can move together in the wind, the sound of rain, the way shadows move, how objects can change in different lighting... the world is a dynamic place. Architecture, at least good architecture, is inspired by the world in which it exists, not by the precedent of other architecture. The whole world is just a series of interconnected spaces. I enjoy trying to find the beauty in mundane things, I like the way concrete feels, and I get really upset over vinyl siding.

IYC: Do you see any links between your life as an edgeman and an aspiring Architecht? When you see a giant Franciscan Church, are you just like, "look at that altar--stage dives!" or what?

EW: Now that you mention it, I've always had an overwhelming desire to creepy crawl through a Borromini church, or maybe circle pit in the Pantheon. I feel like being an edgeman gives me a unique perspective that others might not have. That and I would probably design a pretty inefficient bar. Mostly out of spite.

IYC: Does considering the built environment make you more aware of your surroundings, socially, environmentally or otherwise?

EW: I'd like to think so. Architecture is only successful when it serves the needs of society. I feel like I take more notice of the spaces I'm in than a non-architect might, but I'm mostly criticizing. People interact differently in different environments, Architecture has the ability to encourage human interaction. Architecture should complement the environment in which it exists. The awesome thing about being an Architect is that you have the power to literally build the future, to affect the way people live and think and see the world through the spaces they inhabit... fucking awesome.

IYC: If I hired you to do something on Autocad, could you do it?

EW: I am an Autocad master.

IYC: Shot outs, recommendations on bands, zines etc?

EW: First off, it's awesome that someone within hardcore has an interest in my non-hardcore interests. It's nice to be able to discuss things other than records once in awhile, so thank you for the opportunity. I'd like to give a shout out the to rest of the dudes in MINDSET: Mike "Oxbig" Clarke, Cold Cut and the Chadillac for providing crucial jams for me to rant over and make people want to listen to what I have to say. Keep an eye on REACT! Records for ushering in the new wind of unstoppable edgemanship. Current bands I really believe in include: The Right Idea, Get the Most, Let Down, Reignition, Lion of Judah, Police & Thieves, Coke Bust and Fired Up. Check out Region of Ice fanzine. Buy records, take care of yourself, leave the world better than you found it and always KEEP THE FAITH!