Could you introduce yourself to anyone who doesn’t already know you?

Hey Matt, I am honored you reached out to ask me these questions and include me on the nwhc site. What you're doing for the scene is just as vital, if not more, to the scene as documenting shows. I'd be happy to introduce myself here. My name is Brandon but most of you know me as "vanguardist". Aside from concert videography, my other hobbies and interests are retro video game collecting, hiking, volunteering, swimming, music composition, anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist politics, political activism, materialist/physicalism philosophy, reading, astronomy, and spending time with my GSD, Buddy.

What was your introduction to punk and hardcore?

My authentic introduction to hardcore was actually through metalcore coming from extreme metal. Back in middle school, I was really into black metal and death metal bands such as Immortal, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Entombed, Death, Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, Belphegor, and Gorgoroth, as well as groove metal bands like Pantera (Dallas-Fort Worth 972 represent), Sepultura, Machine Head, Grip Inc, Haji's Kitchen (shoutout Funimation for putting me on to them via the DBZ Broly movie) and Lamb Of God. However, New York's Irate pivoted my music tastes toward more hardcore adjacent metalcore and hardcore itself. I remember watching the music video for "Vendetta" and being instantly hooked. Like many of you, I occasionally return to that video and consistently bump Irate. During my high school days, I joined a metalcore band called Eyes On Isis (like the Egyptian goddess and not the far-right religious extremist terrorist group lmao), as the second guitarist and began heavily writing for it. With our sound lacking consistency, fluctuating between 00s metalcore and 00s deathcore styles, paired with repetitious internal conflict, this led to that band disbanding my senior year. My musician journey continued about a year later in another band called Lobotomy, a band which lasted for a few years before mutually disbanding as often is the case. The bassist of Lobotomy and I moved on to form a hardcore band called Shifted which itself lasted up until I moved to SC. Between my senior year in hs and the time Shifted formed, I had heavily gotten into hardcore with acts like TUI, Bulldoze, Madball, Backtrack, (early) Turnstile, Terror, Suburban Scum, Breakdown, Death Before Dishonor, Everybody Gets Hurt, and Expire. Some of these bands were THE bands to be listening to at this time while others were considered OS by this point. Does anyone remember The Life and Death Tour?? Around 2015-ish I stumbled down the 90s metalcore rabbit hole and decided never to leave. Although I still listen to a lot of the bands I liked beforehand. I essentially found my niche style of music with 90s metalcore that has since inspired me musically. No, I won't list every band I like. I fuck with the entire era. Old Way...

It’s really cool that youre at a ton of shows filming sets and you focus heavily on local bands. What made you decide to start documenting shows?
I started doing concert videography in June 2019 when I still lived in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. At the time, I was casually a part of SCHC (South Carolina Hardcore) going to shows when they popped up however over time I began to feel the urge to do more for that scene than only be present at shows and mosh to bands. At the same time, the urge to be back behind a camera, as I often was in high school taking four years of AV production, was ever so increasing that I finally caved and bought a cheap camcorder I had been saving for. We're talking a couple hundred bucks camcorder with all the accessories bundle needed to get started. The quality was terrible but it gave me a starting point and the excitement was overwhelming. It was cool to have something more to do involving hardcore music. The rest of Vanguardist history is known. I filmed SCHC for two years before moving to WA and settling in Pierce County back in mid-September 2021 just in time to show up late to JAG 2.0 and film the last four bands of the night. I had a doctor's appointment that day which took forever hence my better-late-than-never arrival. It was worth it though!

I imagine filming every or a majority of sets at a show can get tiring. Is it hard to enjoy the sets as much as it would be if you were just going to a show?
Honestly, it's tiring but it's that satisfying type of being tired by the end of a show. Whether it's a four-band bill or a festival, I power through it and do my best to capture every moment even when my arms and shoulders are burning from holding my setup for hours like at big shows, for example. Simply put, I do find joy in going to local shows, seeing my friends and acquaintances, documenting full sets of cool bands, and going home tired yet feeling accomplished.

The amount of time and effort you put into filming, and then editing sets to get up would probably wear me out. What keeps you motivated to keep doing it as often and as much as you do? 

My passion for hardcore. I genuinely live and breathe it and anyone who knows me can attest to that. It often at times can be very overwhelming especially when trying to manage other parts of my life yet I've always powered through these things. However, I do recognize when it's time for breaks. As a matter of fact, I'm on a hiatus break currently as I type this out for you, in October 2024. I fully intend to return to documenting with plans to upgrade my equipment sometime in the near future.

I for one, really appreciate all the documentation of shows you do. We didn't used to always have a video of sets and having it again on a consistent basis is cool. How did you first get into filming?

When I was 12 my early childhood friends and I started making silly videos on an old VHS camcorder with the intent to bring our insider jokes to life. We did this on and off throughout my middle school years. A lot of lost footage from these days. From there, I decided to take four years of AV production in HS where I honed my skills both behind and in front of the camera. The rest of my journey from generalized videography to concert videography more specifically was mentioned earlier in these questions.

Ive seen some discussion over the last few years about shows and fests getting live streamed/kids just watching sets online and not actually attending shows. I personally think that if someone comes across a live set of a new style of music or a band they've never heard of is a great thing and hopefully it makes them want to discover it in person. I've seen some discussion online (none really locally that i can recall however) that think sets being so accessible makes kids just want to watch online and not actively go to shows in person. What are your thoughts on all that?

My thing with this is, I know tourists exist and I know some in the scene have disdain for the "TikTok infiltration". However, I tend to focus on the fact that some people will never actually attend these shows for valid reasons. More than likely not because they don't want to, yet are abled-bodied, but because they're genuinely unable to. We all have to take a step back and realize there are people with either mental or physical limitations that directly affect their ability to attend hardcore shows regularly or at all. While I do recognize individuals like this are a small minority in our society, that is, those with such limitations which also happen to like hardcore, punk, metal, etc, they're still valid in every respect and welcomed in my eyes at any given point. I do wish for everyone interested in what we do, in what this is all about, to experience a live show, however, I recognize what it takes for some to be present. For those who face limitations and still manage to make it to any hc shows anywhere, you have my utmost respect and admiration. I implore others to be more kind, compassionate, and considerate with this topic in mind. Never forget we still have many milestones to accomplish as a society to overcome the ableism that exists within. If watching documented sets online is all one can do when facing such limitations that's more than enough for me. Nevertheless, for people watching these sets and not attending, I think we all might be overthinking it. A lot of outsiders stumble upon hardcore videos with no interest in attending a show. Who cares. All it takes for this to all be worth it is one metal-loving kid to stumble upon Irate's "Vendetta" video on YouTube, right?

What are some of your favorite show memories?

I miss the pizza twist shows Tynan from Three Things Booking (Unity) was putting on in North Seattle. I was bummed when I saw those weren't going to continue anymore. Aside from that, Jagv2-v4 was pretty cool to attend and be a part of! I appreciated those opportunities. Recently, I played with my band, Myst, on a stacked bill with A Mourning Star headlining. I was ecstatic watching them play late that night. They're seriously one of my favorite nwhc bands. Shoutout Cody, Grant, and Ian with Self-Inflicted Booking!

Who are some of your all time favorite nwhc bands?

As mentioned in the question before, A Mourning Star is among my top five favorite active bands out of our scene. However, I also really dig Chopping Block, Kaizo, End Of Dayz, Apex Predator, Full Choke, Ritual Killing, Plagued By God, Land Lost, Lilith, Tolls, The July Effect, EyasLuna, Tears Of Joy, Al Bundy and Cujo. Shoutout out to legendary bands like Undertow, Mourn The Sun, and Strain, the first three nwhc bands I learned about a decade ago while living in Dallas, TX.

Who are your favorite current locals or bands you think people are sleeping on?

So far, I'd say to those sleeping on this new wave of metalcore bands popping up, stop being a fool and come out to a damn mc/mixed bill show. Who cares if a band calls themselves metalcore instead of "metallic hardcore" I can assure you the new wave is much more hardcore adjacent than previous waves and worth looking into. Aside from that, Al Bundy puts on one hell of a set and deserves more recognition. Lastly, in my opinion, youngheads in the scene don't talk enough about Cujo or Chopping Block, both being exceptionally good! Straight up, Chopping Block's new release is so sick. Instant nwhc classic.

What would you like to see from the scene currently? 

I honestly love seeing and hearing about the groundwork promoters like Three Things Booking (Unity) / nwhcshows and Self-Inflicted Booking have been doing recently to get new faces at local gigs. Passing flyers out at popular hc gigs, like a Sunami show, is a tried and true way of expanding our local reach. Printing off show flyers and placing them anywhere you think will garnish attention is another OS way of getting new people involved. Furthermore, if attending gigs and buying band merch here and there is all you do, that's excellent. However, if you have the time and capability of doing something more for nwhc than just attending shows please consider doing so. I promise you the realheads of our scene will take notice and respect whatever you do that positively impacts our local and regional scene. Hardcore is nothing without our youth and community. Unity first, always.

Is there anything you’d like to leave people with? 

Shoutout Seattle hardcore, Tacoma hardcore, and spaces like Real Art, Basecamp Studios, Black Lodge, The Pool House, and Bayside Cafe. RIP to shows at Pizza Twist Roosevelt. Shoutout up and coming bands like Gun Shy, Cherub Chains, Juji Gatame, Al Bundy, Human Puzzle, Prison Gate, and Myst. To the youngheads in nwhc, start a band, a zine, or book a show. If able-bodied, practice moshing and learn new moves. Study anti-revisionist Marxism Leninism (Hoxhaism) and look into The American Party Of Labor. Go vegan, and seriously consider going straight edge. Most importantly, remember that through fully embracing unity our scene will continue to thrive. Northwest Hardcore forever!