Leftöver Crack, combined with Choking Victim and two other bands, Morning Glory and INDK, share a total of seven members between them. These seven musicians are collectively referred to as the “Crack Rock Steady Seven” (CRS7). The line-up of Leftover Crack changes fairly often, drawing on members of other New York City punk bands such as The Stockyard Stoics and The X-Possibles. Stza, Alec, Ezra and Brad are currently the only completely permanent members

melinda@staff.truepunk.com

Day 1: Montreal Quebec, November 9th
This day did not start off well. I am already not a good flier, and the whole terrorist ordeal was not helping my anexity, but I put on a brave face and got myself to the airport to fly to Montreal for my three days with leftover crack. Unfortunately the airport had flooded and they couldn’t use the computers…so I ended up waiting for two extra hours to get on the plane. By this time I was severely panicked, I mean, that has to be a sign for something! But I did get on the plane and I did make it safely to Montreal to start my Leftover Crack experience.

The show was at L’X, a small club with a very punk atmosphere, in downtown Montreal. I’ve been to dozens of shows here but I have never seen a crowd like this one. There were kids lining up outside almost three hours before the show, and believe me, it was cold outside. This was a dual purpose show as it was not only part of Leftover Crack’s Canadian adventure, but also the CD release for local Montreal ska-core rockers The Couch Addiction (http://www.couchaddiction.cjb.net/) , who have been supporting Leftover Crack on the Quebec leg of their mini-Canadian tour.

Now despite my attempts to be professional, I must admit that in the spirt of Leftover Crack I began rocking the 40oz a little early in the night and completely neglected to take pictures of their set… that out of the way I’ll continue.

Montreal locals 69 solution opened up the show, and while I only caught half of their set, I must say they play an impressive live show. They were followed closely by The Couch Addiction. Now these guys are quickly becoming Montreal favorites and the crowd started going wild….but in true punk rock fashion anyone that fell in the pit was immediately pulled upright again, something you don’t see too often these days. Everyone was just having a great time dancing and enjoying the music. By this time the club was getting pretty packed and I was having a hard time finding a place to stand. People just kept coming in, and to be honest, it turned out to be a much larger crowd than I expected. I’m always amazed at how supportive the Montreal scene is. The openers bring in just as many people as the hardliners for most shows and it’s refreshing coming from a shit town in Ontario, where only the big names pack the house.

Finally Leftover Crack took the stage. I’ve never seen these guys live, but I’ve been a fan and I was pretty excited to see what they had to offer. Now I know most of you have an image of what Leftover Crack must be. I know I did and I was pretty scared based on the rumors that these were some scary, fucked up guys. I couldn’t have been more wrong. True they have some fucked up moments, ones I probably don’t understand simply because I’m a sheltered suburb kid. But they are really great guys, and they put on one hell of a live show.

When Leftover Crack started playing the crowd exploded. I was standing near the back of the club and I somehow got sucked into the pit pretty quickly. The way L’X is set up is kind hard to describe. There is a balcony/bar surrounding the entire club, including the stage, so you can pretty much see the band from any angle you choose. While as Leftover started playing, kids began to climb up the balconies and jump off into the crowd. It was insane, I have honestly seen nothing like it before. As for the set, they played a mixture of songs from their new CD “Mediocre Generica”, as well as some Chocking Victim songs. The set was so high energy that the crowd just kept feeding off the intensity for the whole show. Finally the set drew to a close, but the crowd just wouldn’t leave so the band returned to play the infamous “Crack Rock Steady” from Hellcat’s “Give ‘em the Boot II” compilation.

All in all I am in awe of both the energy of the band and of the crowd. Everyone had a great time, and though the pit was insane, no one got hurt. Sorry I can’t remember more details, again I got a little carried away with the beer, but I did get a chance to talk to the guys for a bit, who also commented on how amazing and welcoming the crowd was and what a fun show it was to play.

Day 2: Repentiny Quebec, Skate Park Universe
So Day 1 with Leftover Crack went off without a hitch (except for the entire flight thing). Day 2 was just as eventful. It was snowing today…and anyone who has ever driven on a highway, in the dark, in the snow can imagine what kind of hell this is. For some reason we arrived at the venue very early…which turned out to be okay since it was an indoor skate park, and we got to watch some of the kids skate for a while. Unofrtunatly the stage was set up practically in the half-pipe….and to get to the stage you had to run though 20 kids flying down ramps. Very terrifying.

Leftover Crack showed up about two hours after us. ( I think the snow and the crappy directions we had gotten had something to do with this). We all bitched about the cold for awhile, and they somehow managed to get a pizza delivered to their tour van. Ara (drummer) had brought his wife on the tour, and she had been appointed as offical merch seller. Unfortunaly they couldn’t get a lot of their merch across the boarder, so she had little to do (the poor girl looked so bored)! Ara told me about the history of their van. Appartently they bought it cheap at a police auction…I was impressed, because for guys living in a squat, they had a pretty nice tour van!! There was no smoking inside the club so we spent most of the night outside by the back door smoking and talking (and again rocking the 40oz, from the paper bag this time!). Appartently the washrooms in the place were also broken because there was a heavy stream (no pun intended!) of guys running outside and pissing in the corner.

Leftover played second-last at this show (the hometown band played last as they didn’t have to drive back to Montreal in the snow!). This show was definatly not as intense as L’X. The crowd was pretty excited, but the skate park just lacks the atmosphere (and the sound was horrible….imagine playing inside the half-pipe). Ever been to a show where there is just too much room? This was one of those shows. Leftover again played really well. They had a different set than the previous night, but still played some Choking victim songs and some songs from the new album. The guys told me last nite that they were sick, and I think I’m beginning to feel sorry for them! Must be hard to tour and play shows everynite and eat shitty food when you’re sick! I ended up garding the power bar during thier set (it was by the back door and the drunk guys running outside to piss were tripping over it!). Stzza (LoC singer) has been asking me for drags of my cigarette all nite and I just realized what a mistake that was….I think I’m catching the LoC cold. Anyway, LoC finished their set and we were all tired (and a bit drunk) and hungary, so we decided to call it a night.

DAY 3 COMING SOON…
(It’s been a few years, so this is where it ends, no day 3 coming ever.)

Fall Silent is the author of one of the most energic, powerful and aggressive album of 2002 by now: “Drunken Violence” came out not too long ago on Revelation Records and it hasn’t left my cd player yet. It is filled with hardcore songs, clever lyrics and super kicking ass music. I asked to Levi Watson, singer of the five piece from Reno (Nevada) some questions about Fall Silent’s music, beliefs and future plans.

Interview by Carlo | carlo@staff.truepunk.com | with Levi Watson.

Carlo: Hello! How are you doing ?

Levi: I just put my son to sleep and I just got done masturbating so I am
doing well. Thanks

Carlo:Your new album “Drunken Violence” has just come out - do you cosider it as your best record ever ?

Levi:Yes I think it is our best album ever.

Carlo:Are you satisfied with all of the songs on the new record ?

Levi:I like the way the entire recording came out. I believe that my vocal
timing was off a bit in some parts and I felt that I should have done a
little more extra vocal tricks on some parts but other than that I felt that
everything went fine. Next album will be even better, because I think our
songwriting will always progress.

Carlo: How long did it take to write it, produce it, record it and all that stuff ?

Levi: It took about a year to do all the writing and recording and mixing of
the album. The artwork took about 3 months more than that. But if you
really think about it, all of our time in this band has brought us to this
point. Meaning that we could have only came up with the songs on this album
if we wrote the previous songs on the last albums. We could not have just
came up with “Drunken Violence” without any prior experience as a band. We
needed everything we have done up till this album to produce this album. So
looking at it that way, it took 6 years to do this last album.

Carlo: Why did you call it “Drunken Violence”? Is there a specific reason or is
it referred to something particular ? ( i.e.: someone said that your music
is like drunken violence) .

Levi: There is no specific reason other than that is what the album sounds
like. It is fast and chaotic (drunken) yet cold and calculated (violence).
I mean we are a society steeped in violence and the worst kind of violence
is the drunken kind cause it is uninhibited and free. No consequences run
through your head in that state. It is pure anger and rage without borders,
and that is what we like to try to do with our music.

Carlo:You come from Reno, in Nevada: how is the hardcore punk music scene ever
there?

Levi: The scene here is good. Below are some of Reno’s best bands that
should be recognized more and more in the punk scene:
December —Metal
New School Year—depressing pop music with female vocals
Stevedave—-Universal Rock
Crucial Attack—Posi Straight Edge punk
Iron Lung—-Two piece metal/punk
The Reno scene is getting better and better with crowd attendance and
all ages venues popping up all over. It is an exciting time for Reno and I
hope to see it grow.

Carlo: Do you believe in a “hardcore punk music” scene anyway ?

Levi: Yes, very much so. If not then why would I be doing this band?

Carlo: Is living in Nevada like the way that some movies say ?. I mean, I saw
movies that descrive Nevada as a lonesome and boring desert with nothing to
do.Is it like that ?

Levi: Nothing in the movies is like it is in real life, haven’t you figured
that one out by now? Nevada is not lonesome and boring with nothing to
do. If you are bored, you are boring. Your surroundings are what you make
of them. If you look at it in a negative way then everything is boring.
Northern Nevada is one of the most beautiful and diverse environments
in the country and there are millions of fun things to do here.

Carlo: Which are the reasons why you started Fall Silent ? By the way, how did
you pick up “Fall Silent” as your name ? What does that mean ?

Levi: We started Fall Silent because we were all friends and we had just
broken up with all of the bands we were in and we thought it would be cool
to start a new band. I wanted to play in a band with my brother, and we
were friends with Dan and Brian so we started the group. Very simple.
The name “Fall Silent” was just a name that Dan thought of. It means
whatever you want it to mean, but at the time it was just two words that
sounded good together. There was never really any meaning to the words, but
now it means modesty to me.

Carlo: The artowork of your new album is quite sarcastic and in some way also
“anti religious”: waht can you tell us about it ? Why did you decide to
have those art ? ( what does “FSRN” on the church mean ? I thought it was
“INRI”).

Levi: The new artwork for the album is some of the best we have ever done. It
is not sarcastic or ‘anti-religion’, nor is it pro-religion. It represents
violence in its most base form. Crucifixion has nothing to do with
religion. It is a form of capital punishment used by the Roman government.
It is a very real and disturbing act of violence, and that is what it means
to us. I don’t even know what religion is about. I can’t even fathom it, so
of course we would not have album art which represents religion or
anti-religion. We let the artist listen to the album and know what we are about and
he came up with the artwork. He came up with these ideas and we liked them. That is all. Actually, the crucifixion scene was supposed to be the cover art, but Revelation Records said that we could not use it as the cover art. The FSRN is a play on the INRI thing. FSRN is an an acronym for “Fall Silent Reno Nevada.”

Carlo: Talking of religion, what is your opinion on all of those extreme hardcore metal christian bands around today, like Zao, Living Sacrifice, or even P.O.D., even if this band is nothing extreme obviously ? They are called “hardcore” as Fall Silent is, do you think you share something with them ?

Levi: I think that these bands share a lot with Fall Silent. The very reasons they are a band run parallel with why we are a band. Them, along with us, believe in something so much that they wanted to put their believes in song form and present them to the world. We are angered and inspired by what drives us and we cannot be contained in a regular setting, so we both started bands. We are very much the same with Christian bands. They are inspired by God, and Fall Silent is inspired by real life. These things are just as real to them as real life is for me. I would not say that I agree with the content or the members of the above mentioned bands, but I respect that they have the guts to be a Christian band in a scene that is very anti-religion. They are doing what they love and that is great.

Carlo: Always about some kind of underground “scene” , which are your thoughts on straightedge? I ask you this cuz on Rev Records there are/were some SxE
bands .

Levi: Straightedge is a great thing. By definition, none of the members of Fall Silent have ever been sXe and are not currently. That does not mean that we have any less respect for the lifestyle that sXe people hold true. To be able to live life without mind altering substances is a challenge and a healthy way to live. Kudos to those who remain with the edge into their late twenties.On the other hand,there are many other belief systems that I think are more important than sXe. Veganism, animal rights, and environmentalism are beliefs that I think are far more important than the personal revolution know as Straight Edge. Animal rights and earth rights are things that actually can change our surroundings, while sXe will only change the person.
Sometimes sXe people should be the ones to take mind altering drugs because they are very uptight.

Carlo: How did you get in touch with Rev Records ? What do you think of them ?

Levi: Actually, they got in touch with us and asked if we would be a part of their label. I think they are a great label and one of the few in underground music that has retained ethics and morals while expanding. I can think of no other label to be behind Fall Silent than Revelation. It means a lot to me to be a part of a label that inspired me to be in to hardcore so many years ago.

Carlo: Here in Europe Rev Records is seen as a hardcore label, even tough
lately they released some soft stuff as Garrison, who have been on MTV Show.Would you ever go on MTV like them if someone asked you ?

Levi: Yes.

Carlo: I ask you this to all the band I interview, what’s in your cd-player right now?

Levi: Agnostic Front “Live at CBGB’s”
Soophie Nun Squad “The Devil, The Metal, The Big Booty Beats”
Sleep “Holy Mountain”
I have a 3 disc changer and that is what I am rocking now.

Carlo:Your lyrics were described, in your bio, as: “yelling lyrics of America’s “pill popping spiritual emptiness”, to skateboarding, to self-empowerment and war” - can you tell us something more about what you sing about ? Skateboarding ?

Levi: Well, you named some of the topics in your question. I sing about the homogenization of the world by global corporations. I sing about the beauty, and skill, and lifestyle of skateboarding in 7 Plies. I sing about self-empowerment in a lot of my songs, and I sing a song (”War Poetry”) that my dad wrote while he was fighting in the Vietnam War. I also sing about freedom from tradition and freedom from cultural norms that we are all forced in to. I like to sing about things that can
effect us all on a day to day basis. Straight Edge, the way we dress, relationships between people, growing up too fast, death, suicide, and many more things since I started writing lyrics for the band. If you have one or all of our albums it is pretty easy to understand my lyrics. They are not poetic and they are very “to the point” style lyrics. So this explanation is pretty senseless.

Carlo: I think the words that touched me more were “the best things in life are not things” : how did you write it? I think it is the best verse I heard in a long time .

Levi: Thank you for your compliment. I thought of that after I got married and after I watched my son Jude come in to this world through my wife. It is a very powerful thing to be in love with someone and it is an amazing act of nature to create a life with someone you love so deeply. That line just came to me during this time in my life when I am very poor and I don’t have much, but I am very happy and there is no material object that could make me happier right now than the love I have for my wife and child. Also, Fall Silent is not a thing and it is more important to me than
most things. It is third only to Mandy and Jude. It is a love that I could never put a price on. It is my life’s work. And no one could ever buy that from me. Ideas.

Carlo: You also have one song calle “The First Seven Inch Club” - what is that
about ?!?

Levi: That song is about those people who come to shows and do that “violent
dancing” that is really ugly and it doesn’t even go along with the music. These are the people that go to shows to get in fights and that is a horrible thing. It is also about those jaded kids who hate any band that has gained any sort of popularity or who has put out some albums that are fucking good. They are the ones who go to shows only to show off their old band shirts that are rare and that they bought off e-Bay for 88 dollars. It is about the kids who make fun of the younger kids who get crazy at shows while they stand crossed armed in back and sneer. Fuck them.That song is a call to arms to all people who want to take their scene back to a positive and great place to be.

Carlo: Have you got some plans of touring ? Where and when , also in Europe ?

Levi: We may go to Europe sometime in the future, but I am not sure when. Also, we are going on an east coast tour for 4 weeks from June 20-July 20, 2002. It should be a good tour and it is with Uphill Battle.We just got back from a great west coast and Canada tour that was about 26 shows. It was the best tour we have ever done and I hope that our next tour is good as well.

Carlo: Final Comments?

Levi: All I want to say is for everyone to have a good time in life and try
to love as much as you can. I know it sounds pretty fucking dreamy, but it
is the truth. Love is more important than anything else.

Carlo: I thank you so much for your time, I hope you enjoyed answering my
questions. Take care and I hope to see you live someyime!!!

Levi: Unless you come to America I don’t think you will see us anytime. Thanks for the interview.