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

Yeah man, I’m Jeff, from the beautiful Pacific Northwest. I spent most of my formative years growing up here, in and out of punk houses from Olympia to Bremerton to Seattle, and have participated in an incalculable amount of artistic projects ranging from visual to media art, performance and music, and skateboard related art. Currently I’m living in LA. I love the Ocean and I love being outside in the woods or on mountains, so I end up back in Seattle every summer. When I’m not doing music Im surfing, lifting weights and religiously training Jiu Jitsu and training clients.

What was your introduction to punk and hardcore?

My introduction to punk and hardcore was skate videos. The first three consolidated videos and all the anti hero videos. They had Void, Minor Threat, English Dogs, Negative Approach, deeper cuts like Eskorbuto. When I first heard that raw stuff I definitely perked up and wanted more of that. 411 video magazine issues 40-42 introduced me to some more polished sounding punk and hardcore, suicidal tendencies, later black flag, Gang of Four, and some pop punk. Really just skate videos. But at the time I was so young it was more just a soundtrack to my other hobby which was skateboarding. It wasn’t until I heard SSD in high school that I was like, “Oh shit what is this hardcore stuff”, that’s the band that did it for me. I got the old Schism fanzines when they got compiled into a book and that was huge for me. Made a stencil out of the SSD page and made a t shirt for myself. Way before that I’d go to shows in downtown Olympia, punk shows with skate friends but I was kind of put off by the attitudes of people there. It felt very judgmental. I saw Champion cover SSD at the manium in maybe 2004? I think that was when I first realized there was current hardcore and I kind of started following that to a degree. Honestly when Champion announced they were breaking up that’s when I got back into wanting to attend live gigs and go to modern shows. I was more recreational because of the aforementioned attitudes I’d encounter in music that I didn’t encounter in skateboarding. I think seeing The First Step is what really made me want to start a band. Bands like them and Hit the Deck inspired me a lot when I was young. I definitely gravitated toward the youth crew stuff, it was the energy, the sincerity and the heart. You don’t find that in many forms of art. But my first hardcore band ended up being more thug core, 80s NY stuff. It was called Trainyard, we named the band after Crown Of Thornz. Funny enough that stuff is extremely popular today, I never would have predicted people would take that music as seriously as they do now haha, it was pretty tongue in cheek even for the originators and I think people picked up on that then. That being said we did the same thing, tongue in cheek, made light of things people took seriously, drew from so many influences we almost became hyperbole as a band. It truly was an art project inspired by myself and my friends Adriana and Ian just being hardcore archivists. Digging into everything. I’d sit on the now defunct Kill From the Heart webpage and just look up punk and hardcore all around the world, just digging listening and drawing influence from everything. I remember Adriana made me a mix CD in my formative years it had Krakdown, the District 9 7”, DMIZE demo and Biohazard S/T on it. That changed the game for me as well. At the time I had only heard Biohazard “Kill Or Be Killed” which I had bought on CD from Circuit City I had no idea they were a hardcore band so that was a crazy revelation for me. Because this interview is NW centric I’ll stick to those influences. Started and played with bunch of bands in Olympia around the time of The Crazies, Insubordinate and Trainyard. Met the Bremerton guys and started gigging super tough with them until eventually spending all my time in Bremerton at the Tiki House. Moved back to Olympia and had second waves of band and then a third wave, moved to Seattle, it just kept going until present day. I believe the first year I spent more time touring than I spent home was 2013. That’s when it started to feel serious. Then that got blown out of the water in 2017 when I joined Angel Du$t and still played with four of my other bands.

I think the first band i saw you play in was Sixes. Youve done a ton of bands since then between Odd Man Out, Gag, Change, Angel Dust and some others im probably forgetting. What are some of your favorite shows or memories from any of those bands?

Sixes was a huge one for me, honestly our first East Coast tour in 2009 was a really big one, I had never been and I remember driving into the city limits of New York and putting on “New York City Boy” by Pet Shop Boys and singing and dancing as stupid as I could and annoying the shit out of Travis. Travis, our guitar player, was born and raised in New York. It was the first time in my life I had come home from a tour with money as well and I remember thinking, “wait, this can make money?”. We played an ABC No Rio matinee as well while we were out there that was a bucket list for me. Just a very coming of age tour for sure. I toured with a TON of bands aside from the ones you mentioned I don’t know if I could recall even a quarter of the memories so maybe I’ll do some shoutouts. Definitely first tour with Rocket Attack. Going to Burnt Ramen and seeing DMS tags on the walls and just being like, “wait these people and these stories are actually real” remember there wasn’t internet like there is now or even videos really like they’re archived today. Seeing a Danny diablo tag was like, “whoh, that person is real”. We went to Tijuana on that tour and it was my first time out of the country that wasn’t Canada. That was crazy. I was just watching my friends get extorted at a strip club while I was 17 years old. Definitely a wild one. The first GAG full US was crazy, the first Odd Man Out tour was Mexico with Protester that was an absolutely insane tour, maybe one of the most fun I’ve ever been on in my life. Just playing basketball and jumping off waterfalls. First time Odd Man Out went to Asia, that was insanely special, I’ll always remember that. Our show in Bandung might still be in my top five for favorite shows I’ve ever played. Odd Man Out’s first South America run where we met the Raw Brigade boys in 2017 that was a huge one. Lifelong friendships and memories I’ll never forget. It’s hard for me to remember too far back. Angel Du$t, Turnstile, Odd Man Out, Fury in Europe was insane. Angel Du$t, Turnstile, ETID and Vein on a bandwagon was one of the most fun tours I’d ever been on with some of the best cameradery. Letting Brendan and Dan tattoo me on the bandwagon I will never forget. Justice driving a lime scooter inside the bandwagon down the hallway and running it into the wall. Angel Du$t and Avail and also Angel Du$t, Rancid, Suicidal and Pennywise was a little boy moment for me. Hanging out with Mike Miur and his wife every night at Merch was so special. Angel Du$t and Touche Amore in Europe in 2017 was a really inspirational one for me. Seeing my friends succeed on that level and the artistic inspiration I drew from that whole crew changed the way I looked at life after honestly. I was going on runs every morning and writing poetry. Almost two months in the cold winter of Europe with such inspirational people really changed me. If I ran through everything I’d write volumes of an entire lifetime. Life through touring has been absolutely beautiful. 

You used to book New Direction, which then turned into OHC and now the Deal. How did doing the fest become an idea of something you wanted to do? What are some sets/memories youd like to share?

Yes, New Direction Fest was a collective, I didn’t do it alone probably about 12 people meeting and organizing. We did some cool stuff, brought a lot of speakers to Olympia, Mark from Positive Force DC was awesome, Jello Biafra and Vic Bondi chumming it up and Oi Pollois first ever West Coast date were cool things to be a part of that I remember fondly. You’re right in saying it sort of turned into OHC, in that the whole concept of doing an event started with a promise I made my friends in Mexico I’d bring them back. We flew out Brigada Roja from Monterrey and I made a bunch of new friends in that scene and the Mexico City scene who I would write letters to. There was a label called Cintes Pepi out of Mexico City I’d follow religiously. The band that stood out the most to me from that scene was Tercer Mundo, I did a full write up on them at my old blog SudsDenim.blogspot.com people can read, they were an important band and the first I flew out for OHC. That and the Brutales Matanzas comp, amazing bands. That snowballed into an excuse to have all my friends in one place at one time every year. The first year was flying out Tercer Mundo and having Big Zit and Ooze come out from Indiana, both bands were incredible. Of course a lot of local favorites were on it as well and some other touring bands from Kansas City. The second year marked flying out more friends from Mexico and Glue’s first appearance, they would become regulars. It started getting out of hand by the third year with 16 touring bands, Laffing Gas, Step 4 Change, Krimewatch, Bugg, Gem, Hank Wood, Civic Duty, Stuck Pigs, and Pure Disgust to name a few. Fourth year was also quite a few touring bands Fury, Limp Wrist, Narrow Head, Ausencia, Fried Egg, Ingrown, Narcoestado, Sex Pill, The Pose, Skourge, Protester, the Real Cost, Diztort and more. It’s also the only one I lost money on but it wasn’t because of quantity of bands it was because a venue pulled on me and the new expenses of the replacement venue wrecked me. OHC became a labor of love for a few more years totaling seven but it was such a magical time. Covid of course shut down every Olympia venue and I just kind of moved on. Recently I thought about how generous and incredible of a human Hideta from Brightside Booking and the Osaka, Japan music scene is and I decided to do another event organized around bringing his band “Brave Out” to the states. Originally the plan was to bring Numb but that’s on the table for next year. Honestly there’s no intention beyond paying back the generosity people have given me in other places around the world and shining a spotlight on lesser known hard working bands and especially NW bands. I don’t keep a dime from the event and I shoot for low overhead so I can pay out people from the NW for helping me. People who provide, gear, do sound, etc. The goal is to keep it in the family and grow the NW scene from a more grassroots level. Rather than a more exploitative model that’s sold to us as our only option.

The Deal is going to be at the West Seattle Legion Hall in September. I havent been there in forever, so im pumped. What made you decide to bring shows back there and what are some memories of past shows you played or went to that you want to share? Also, what are you most excited about for the Deal this year?

West Seattle Legion was important to me because it’s such a notorious venue for amazing shows. All my favorite shows happened there when I was younger. Everything I’ve ever seen there has been the coolest- from champion weekend, to Chad from In Stride having a literal heart attack during Sunset Riders, Down to Nothing’s first time on the west coast in the small room, the infamous Ceremony circle pit in the big room, The First Step in the big room, the first year of Rain Fest, the Odd Man Out CCHC record release with Freedom and Step 4 Change, too many to even recall but all just some of the most fun times. I’m just excited for an excuse to see all my friends.

Youre probably the most well traveled person in the NWHC scene that i know as far as traveling for tours. Where are some of your favorite scenes/places to play? How do kids react to bands from the NW when you play there and what similarities do you see in international scenes that you see from the local one here, if there are any?

I have traveled extensively in my life for music, skateboarding and training and it’s legitimately the most fun thing in the world to me. I never felt like I belonged in the social order of the country I was born in, so although I feel comfortable in the NW, I don’t feel entirely comfortable socially or like I’m living the life I want to live here. I don’t appreciate how the US is governed and I don’t appreciate the hegemony we impose over other nations and the atrocities we fund for reasons I can’t wrap my head around. I also can’t feel 100% comfortable with my own life passively living with some of the benefits of that American/Canadian/European Hegemony provides. So as early as I remember exploring political economy (high school) I’ve wanted to get out of here. I started traveling to Mexico first. Meeting people and instantly feeling like I got along better there socially. Family and community networks emphasized, good food, attitudes and culture, I just consistently met strong and grateful people. As I kept exploring I felt the same way in South America and in Asia. Asia is probably where I feel most at home. The culture is strong and deeply rooted in respect for one another and for the earth in a lot of SE Asian countries. I grew up on a farm with my grandparents and them and my mom raised me on respect for living creatures and land. We have native heritage in our bloodline, so although removed and white washed, it was important and emphasized for me growing up- being a part of the world, not taking from it, but being grateful for what you are provided with by it. We raised Cattle, Pigs, Chicken etc growing up and lived simply with subsistence agriculture, hunting and fishing. It was important to my development for sure. My mom has worked in wildlife conservation her whole life. First for the WA dept of fish and wildlife and later/to this day as a tribal liaison for Alaska/WA/OR making sure the US government honors its tribal treaties in their fishing, harvesting and economic practices. This is a long winded way of describing the fact that I want more from my interactions with people than transactions. I want to build communities and cultivate friendship that will mean something to me on my death bed.

This is getting derailed so to answer your question favorite scenes that have made the biggest impacts on me: Cuba, Colombia, Mexico City, Colima, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines and so much more I’m probably forgetting. People are thoughtful, generous, and excited about music for all the right reasons.  I’ve met lifelong friends in those places and I hope to continue to do so as my life goes on.

Very quick shoutout to the NW, nowhere else have I met a scene that has such a large quantity of lifers in it. It truly is a remarkable place that due to its remoteness and disconnect from a lot of modern happenings, cultivates a scene of people with so much heart. It’s really inspirational to see. People love hardcore in the NW, it is actually such a profound part of their lives.

Who are some of your all time favorite nwhc bands?

Ooh, for me personally would be Undertow, In Stride, Cold Sweat, Poison Idea, Brotherhood, Sado-Nation, the Crazies, Blue Monday, Champion, Stay Gold, Rosary, Shook Ones, Iron Lung, HIV, Sunset Riders, Sidetracked, Poseidon, Insubordinate, Ape Escape… way too many to name and probably so many I’m not gonna remember at the moment. Odd Man Out as a band is so entirely conceptual even down to lines in lyrics, so much of it is nods to my favorite bands from this area. I also had John from Undertow and Jensen from Iron Lung do guest spots on the Odd Man Out lp on tracks influenced by their bands.

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

The scene of kids is popping off right now in a really cool way. It makes me so happy to see. I thought Covid killed it, and even pre Covid I thought sound cloud killed the young hardcore scene but thanks to viral videos online we are back haha. Don’t get me wrong that’s not a dig, I’m legitimately down. The live performance is what brought me to hardcore as well so I understand. Seeing that energy for the first time is something special. I really like that band Skelm a lot, I think they’re awesome. I’m excited to hear your guys new recordings for Unjust, I really like that Denial of Life record and I think all of them are talented enough to take their band next level and keep climbing. The Elimination Squad demo is my kind of hardcore, short and simple, need more bands following that example. The new End of Dayz I’m excited about and I love all those guys so much, never a dull moment with any of them. I’m pretty stoked to see kids who used to be young to me growing up in hardcore and doing awesome things it motivates me quite a lot. Every time I’ve seen Spurr I’ve come away from the set hyped. I realize by answering this question I’m running the risk of forgetting things and face palming later but that’s what comes to mind off top.

What would you like to see from the scene currently?

I have zero expectations. I just want to see people do right by each other and work as a team. Friendship.

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

Do what you want to do and be supportive of others. The rest will follow. Read The Way to Love by Anthony De Mello. It’s short and easy, meditations on his deathbed. Think about thinking, lift weights, respect each other and practice humility.