This interview was originally published in Plead Your Case Fanzine Issue #6, July 2014. Regular text is PYC, bold text is Jami.
Whats up Jami? Tell me about Code Orange and what you do in the band.
What's up Lennon? Well, Code Orange is a hardcore band from Pittsburgh, PA. We started when we were 15. I play drums and sing.
You guys have a new record coming out very soon. Give me some details about that?
Well the record is called I Am King. I think it's the best thing that we have done by many miles and I'm really excited about it. It comes out September 2nd.
Hell yeah. You guys recently got off of a tour with BANE which is pretty huge. How were those shows? Was there any particular city or cities that really stick out for having a great reaction for you guys?
We only did a week but straight up every show was awesome. 3 of them were in Florida and htat is why. We love FL. Reaction wise all the shows were awesome, the new songs we were playing got pretty wild without even being out, so that is exciting. We love [Bane] as a band and as people. They were really the first "bigger" hardcore band that took us under their wing and really helped us, accepted us, and became friends with us. We would do anything for them.
That's awesome, I'm glad FL treated you guys right. I feel like when most people talk about PA hardcore htey talk about bands from Philly or Wilkes-Barre, but not Pittsburgh as often. What is the hardcore community like in PGH currently? Who would you say is the best HC band ever to come out of PGH?
Pittsburgh is an amazing place. It is one of the only places to me that feels unswayed by trends and has for the most part always produced good, heavy music. There are so many good heavy hardcore bands right now like, Eternal Sleep, Unit 731, Steel Nation, Purge, (all of whom I'm putting out records for), Path to Misery, No Reason To Live, along with more traditional bands like Hounds of Hate and No Time. In addition there are so many great bands of the past like Built Upon Frustration, Enemy Minds, Zo, Unreal city and many more. Pittsburgh hardcore shaped who we are entirely as a band. It is boundary-less, limitless, unafraid and unapologetic, and though many of us don't sound the same, the idea that we can be those things is what pushes us.
You mentioned putting out some of those bands. Tell me about your label, how it came about, future plans, etc.
My label is called Harm Reduction records and it is through Deathwish Inc. The label came about when me and my friend Pat Klindon decided we wanted to put out genuinely heavy and interesting records that other labels may not be interested in initially as they may be a bit unaccessible even from a hardcore standpoint. We wanted to Harken back to the era of hellfest and even 90s victory bands and kind of try and capture that metallic hardcore kind of sound in a way thats different from what other labels are doing. We wanted to put out bands that are kind of doing what I explained above: not putting limits on what they wanna do, but most importantly wanted to put out bands that are crushingly heavy. Our first five releases are a Drown (heavy Buried Alive style hc from texas) 7", a Unit 731 (smart beatdown from pgh) LP, a Torn (members of Advent) 7", an Eternal Sleep 7" and the Steel Nation LP.
Very cool. I'm unbelievably pumped on the new Steel Nation record. Speaking of 90's era Victory bands... what's your favorite record to ever come out on Victory and why?
Probably Buried Alive - Death Of Your Perfect World just because it's my favorite hardcore record of all time. It's gotta be that or Satisfaction, but there are a million great ones from that period of time.
DOYPW is definitely in my top 3 hardcore LPs as well and would be my pick too so respect. What are some current or newer hardcore bands that get you really siked on hardcore.
Your band Blistered (no bs). Twitching Tongues, Harms Way, Incendiary, Axis, Discourse, Forced Order, Angel Dust, Drown, Eternal Sleep, Lifeless, Freedom, tons more - there are so many really cool bands right now to me of all different kinds of hardcore.
Hell yeah thank you haha. Alright, Cro-Mags or AF?
Mags
Ringworm or Integrity?
Integ but very down with the worm
Favorite NYHC record
80's = Age of Quarrel or Blood Sweat No Tears. 90's = im going with Master Killer or the Burn 7".
I understand you're a wrestling fan... Who's your favorite wrestler?
I've been a wrestling fan my whole life. Some of my favorites of all time are Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Brian Pillman, CM Punk, and Shawn Michaels.
So to wrap things up, other than the new record coming out, what are some other future plans for Code Orange?
After TIHC we are doing a tour in the fall that we are super excited about. Then we will see what happens! We are gonna push this record as hard as we can.
Hell yeah, that tour is gonna be real cool. Any last words/shout outs/disses/whatever?
Shout out to you, you rock. Shout out to the straight edge.
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