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

My name is John Pettibone.  Currently yell and bark in Heiress, Raised Wrong and These Ends Meet.  I have a 12 yr old son named Johnny. He plays the violin and likes Metallica, Turnstile and Fall Out Boy. Great kid!  Bring a dad is rad! 

What was your introduction to punk and hardcore?
My dad has been in the cable contracting business my whole life. He moved the family up to North Bend, aka Twin Peaks, from San Francisco when I was 5 so we always had extended channels in the house and the summer of 1984 two thing’s happened. I discovered this show called Night Flight videos that was on a early version of USA channel that was on late Friday nights so I found my first loves of music with videos of The Cure, Bauhaus, Joy Division and The Damned. I became a young goth. I spent my school breaks back in San Fran with my grandparents and my cousin was a young prodigy surfer and skater. I don’t like being in the ocean so he got me on a skateboard and that became my other love to this day. I started reading Thrasher magazine and would see the bands they interviewed in there and came across the Misfits and I was all in right then!   To add there was two excellent skate/record stores called Time Travelers and Fallout and I spent a lot of time in both just consuming music and skateboarding. 

You've played in a ton of bands over the years (Undertow, Himsa, Heiress, etc), all of them with their own style and sound. What was the progression like as far as musical style and the types of crowd you play too with them. Obviously all are hardcore bands in their own style but each sound totally different.
I’ve been extremely fortunate to play with some incredibly talented people thru my journey in music and the one thing that always remained is a strong pride/bond to the NWHC scene. Most of the folks I’ve been in bands with cut their teeth in HC bands here. Progression is growth in discovering new ways to create your art and expanding on sounds for your expressions.  The Cure sound different from Neurosis who sound way off from The London Suede, Entombed  or Negative Approach but those individuals all come from punk and I absolutely love those bands and each have had a tremendous influence on how I try to challenge and expand myself with writing. The one important aspect with all the bands I’ve been in is keeping the DIY mentality. It’s always been for the love of it and not treating it as a business. 

What are some stories from the 90's that you can think of that would describe how the scene was here back then? Any particular shows, events or things that were going on in the scene back then that had a time and a place feel to them?
Late 80s/early 90s there wasn’t a lot of national bands touring up to the NW.  The drive was to far from SF, Portland had a bad nazi scene so bands wouldn’t take the risk. We did get bigger/pro tours and we would take the ferry over to Bremerton at this venue called Natasha’s because Seattle had the TDO law in effect which was basically like the movie Footloose. There’s a great podcast called “Let the Kids Dance” that deep dives into it. Anyways, Natasha’s had a GBH show that turned into a full on riot that extended onto the ferry back. It basically got destroyed and surprisingly someone did not set it on fire! Cromags came thru opening for Destruction, a German thrash metal band. Saw a skinhead hit a metalhead with a cinder block in the head then pissed on him. Some wild shit to witness as a teen.   Soon after we had opportunities to see and play with other styles of bands locally which reflects on how we were also influenced from your previous question.  Local bands from different scenes really supported each other which helped  grow the punk community and in turn bands started making the trip up to Seattle.  Undertow got to play with The Accused, Poison Idea, Jawbreaker, Neurosis, Seaweed. Shows had wild line ups that made sense. We were just insistent on building a strong foundation of all the different pockets to get out of state bands/tours to come here.    One important tour came thru in 1991 was Sepultura with support by Sick of it All and Sacred Reich at a old club called RCKNDY. It was 21+ at the time so none of us younger hc kids could get in but SOIA made the bouncers keep the back bay doors open for us so we could watch and that struck deep for the few of us that witnessed it. 

Can you tell me about venues from the 80's through the late 90's that are no longer around that you used to like either going to or playing? What are some shows that stand out from them back then?

Definitely Natasha’s like I stated above.  Most important show of my life was Brotherhood played there in 1988 and was blown away. I was straight edge in theory thru MT and SSD but never witness someone singing and talking about it so I bought their demo and there was a address on the insert so I wrote them a letter stating how rad they were and Ron wrote me back and invited me to come hang out and go to their next show in a basement at their friend Lenny’s house. I showed up at his place with the other members and they were fucking so cool and enthusiastic about hardcore. I was 16 at the time and they were 18/19 so I was surrounded by this incredible energy and the spark that would ignite NWHC.  Ron had made me some mixed tapes of bands I never heard of before at that time like Wide Awake, Side by Side, Raw Deal, UC, Chain of Strength and Slapshot. I felt so welcomed. So we head out to the show and another band on the show was Refuse. Four 15yr old straight edge dudes from North Seattle that Brotherhood took under their wing. Refuse played and again I’m stunned that kids my age are ripping. We instantly became friends and a year later I would join them on bass per Ron’s request and we became Undertow.  Tacoma had Cresent Ballroom and Community Theater that booked killer lineups like Bl’ast opening for Slayer and Circle Jerks with 7 Seconds.  Seattle had Washington Hall were I witnessed one of the most incredible, emotional sets of my life with Fugazi. The Underground which was predominantly a goth club I went to hosted a early Danzig gig that was fucking rad!   OK Hotel did a lot of shows but the Party Hall in the CD  is where we cut our teeth booking and playing so many shows. We booked a Rorschach, Born Against, Downcast, Tow and Galleons Lap show and just as we were about to play a CripsBloods shoot out went off just outside front doors. bullets coming thru the walls, we all laying in the floor locked in this old pool hall in silence then door opens we all rushed it and it turned out to be the owner with gun in hand telling us to run.  Then eventually Velvet Elvis became the spot for shows in Pioneer Square. 

To me when I think of the start of the NWHC scene, Brotherhood and Undertow are the two bands that immediately come to mind. Who are some other bands that helped form and were a big part of helping grow the scene from back then that people may not know about?

Brotherhood was formed out of the band False Liberty so that’s basically the band that is patient zero in the lineage of Seattle HC. I know for a fact that members of Mudhoney, Nirvana and Soundgarden were early 80s HC punks. I’m sure you’ve seen the bass player in Nirvana wearing a SSD shirt on MTV and the drummer came from DCHC.  When Brotherhood split two other bands were formed. Ron and Vic started Resolution and Greg and Nate formed Galleons Lap.  Resolution was more Motörhead vibe and Galleons Lap had a DC Revolution Summer sound like Rites of Spring.  Both great bands and bridged a gap of what was about to come with Undertow.  Crazy tho that soon after Nate from GL and Dan from Resolution would go on to create Sunny Day Real Estate and Nate would eventually help form Foo Fighters.   Other bands were Strain and Sparkmarker from BC.  Jesters of Chaos, Last Gasp, Aspirin Feast, The Whipped, Feeding the Cause, 10:07, Positive Greed, Karp are a bunch of bands that helped mold our scene. But I would credit The Accused for planting the flag for us all. 

Himsa was the first band I ever saw you play in. I'm assuming that lots of non local shows might have had a less hardcore kid oriented  crowd. How were those shows and was it weird going from Undertow to Himsa as far as potential reactions and size of crowds when you guys were actively touring?

Himsa was already a band when I was asked to join. They were made up of ex Trial members so they had already had ties in the NWHC scene. I moved to NYC in late 1997 and came back home in 2000 with hopes of doing a band somewhere in the middle of Turmoil meets At the Gates. I was home about a month when they approached me but I wasn’t into what they had done previously but they mentioned some member changes and going into a more metallic sound. Heard some demos and I was in. We played mostly HC bills with locals Champion, Botch, To See You Broken, Harkonen and such.  Did shows with Murder City Devils, Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves. 18 Visions, Turmoil, Hope Con, AN and Converge are some shows I remember playing.  The NW was very prosperous then. Huge scene, very organized and lots of places to play. It’s definitely what we had in mind of growth from the Tow days. Wasn’t weird at all to play from Undertow to Himsa. Just kept the same mentality we learned in our younger days to keep moving forward. If we had a new member join they needed to come from HC and have that same mentality that we do this ourselves.  We had a fill in once who was a straight Metalhead with no idea of the All Ages/DIY ethic and it was a total failure. 

For all the younger kids, you were in a movie that is fully NWHC related called The Edge of Quarrel. How did that come to be a thing, how was filming and have you watched it recently? If so, what are your thoughts on it now?

Well our good friend Dave Larson who ran Excursion Records and put out the Undertow LP was writing a script in the vein of The Outsiders. Punks vs Core.  There was a a good year or two were we were fighting with some of the punks that started turning on us because of being straight edge. For some reason we became the enemy because our choice and looks. The way we danced or dove. Or even protecting some shows when nazis or jock assholes showed up. Wild way of thinking when you both have the same insights on our community as a whole. It was fun to film but I’m terrible at acting. My scenes were rushed as I was moving to NYC  a few months later.   But made some great friends out of it like Rocky Votolato and MCD crew.  I haven’t watched since Dave’s premiere.  

Working at El Co, you see a ton of different shows, crowds and have seen generations of hardcore kids come and go. What have you noticed from the younger kids that have been packing out shows the last few years? What do you think they bring to the scene now, any similarities to kids in the 90's and what suggestions would you have for them to keep the NW scene thriving?

There’s a definite split of those who are excited to be part of something, in the moment and have a real desire in participating. Then you have the ones just wanting to be seen at a show, on social media and that they “act or pose” in this subculture of subcultures. Both play roles in the growth and a lot of them will move on to the next thing the world deems different.  I have a lyric in a Raised Wrong song that goes “ we all just want to live for something to love” simply put we will love it when we find it.  With the growth of bands like Turnstile, Knocked Loose and Sunami you will get the kids that are just on a search for identity and a place to feel safe. I was one of those kids lost in a world of shit and found my tribe.  I think punk/hardcore is beautiful gateway into becoming a compassionate human.  My only complaint is all the bands on one bill sounding the same. Mix tape those line ups ya’ll!   
You recently started a new band Raised Wrong. Your self titled 12" is out on Indecision records and it rips. With everyone in the band living so far away from each other, how was the writing and recording process for all the songs? What plans do you guys have going forward for the band?

 Thank you much!  The idea of doing this band has been around for 20+ years. Murph and I were in Undertow together. Kenz and Murph were in Ensign together and I roadie for them while living in NYC. Itow was in bands that toured with Ensign and would put us up when we were in Orange County, California.  There’s a lot of history together but what really got the fire going was the Indecision 30 Fest in 2023.  Undertow played with Kenz and Itow filling in for Mark and Demian with their blessing and they are the only 2 that we would want to do it with.  We had a chemistry that weekend and made the decision to make RW a reality. I’ve been holding onto that name for years!  Murph and Kenz had song ideas, I’m always writing and have pages of lyrics for other bands I’m doing and so a thread was started and we made a date to all meet up at Itows to practice and polish up the songs, record the next day, set a date for releasing it and play a couple shows for it but we are having such a fun time with it we are going to play in every one of our cities then try and do a bit of touring.   We already have 4-5 new songs and those will be on a split with our dudes in Living Eyes from Oakland. 

Who are some of your all time favorite NWHC bands? Who are some hidden gems or lesser known bands from the scene that you would suggest people check out that might not be easily accessible on streaming?

BROTHERHOOD!   Not just for the NW but that band is on my Mt Rushmore of bands.  Resolution, Galleons Lap, Botch, Strain, Sparkmarker, Digh Down, Jayhawker, Christopher Robin, Dead Skin Mask, Screwjack, Harkonen, Jaugh Dawn Baker, Balance of the World, Kiss it Goodbye, Nothing Left, Playing Enemy, Cold Sweat, Owen Hart, Devotion, Black Breath, Iron Lung, Cascabel. 

Who are some of your favorite current local bands?

Odd Man Out, Apex Predator, Dry Socket, Lilith, Punitive Damage, Tears of Joy, Kaizo, Yellfire, Nurser, Vacuum, Caustic Wound. 

The last question is a two parter, is there anything you'd like to leave people with? And is there any band or song that would make you act like an 18 year old again and mosh if you saw it live?

Soak in knowledge and embrace what we have here. The NW is a special place. So many people have done and continue to do incredible things from and in our scene. Mix these bills up. Get weird and support everyone as you might discover something life changing.  Support locally, act globally.  And I will always mosh to Negative Approach!!!