NJ Bloodline

Excuse me scumbag? I'm gonna keep it short here because NJ Bloodline doesn't need an introduction and Wreak has a lot of things to say! Make sure you show up Saturday 13 on their Belgian show to party hard on the dancefloor, because that's what these scumbags wanna see!

NJ Bloodline is coming back to Europe. Are you looking forward to it?
We always look forward to playing anytime and anywhere. Only thing we can ever expect is to see and play with some old friends, as well as just have a great time no matter what happens. We're easy, all we need is somewhere to plug into and a room to play in, we'll be fine with that.

What is the current status of the band? Are you officialy back together?
Yes, NJBL's back together and we have been at least since last year as opposed to just reunions every so often. It's a little difficult to plan stuff as often as we'd like being that all of us work, Ian's in school, and Joey's in either CA or FL most of the year. We really don't even play locally at all anymore that often. As you may have noticed our last shows were in Puerto Rico, then before that maybe a month and a half prior to that. For the next few months Eric from E-town Concrete is actually going to be filling in for us just to play around NY and NJ.We do have some new material in the works, but that's all a matter of how busy Frank, Ian, or myself is.

So it's fair to say NJBL is taking it easy at the moment?
Exactly, couldn't put it better myself.

Must be a good feeling after all the hard work in the past to be able to pick out shows you really want to play?
Well if it was up to us we'd be playing 2 sets about an hour and a half long each. The shows that mean the most to the kids are the ones we have to do.

How and when did you decide to get back together?
We tried a few times and it was a pile of arguments between me and Frank. Both of us were in Homicidal at the time too.Well about two years ago when E-town Concrete decided to end their run we were asked. Frank and I had already been talking once again and made plans to get NJBL moving once more.


So was NJBL something you missed doing? How does it feel to be back in the game now?
NJBL is my baby, I'm the only original member so... - this is what keeps me alive. I just regret not being able to spend every living moment in a metal box with my best friends every day. You would have to come on a tour with us to understand.

Do you remember the previous European tours / show?
I remember everything well, US shows as well. We have fun with every second regardless. As far as Europe well let me just leave no comment on that one.

Let's get back to the beginning. When and how and with who was NJ Bloodline formed?
January 1992 I introduced some friends that played instruments. I went along to hang out and watch, then ended up singing the few cover songs they were doing which was primarily stuff by Cro-Mags, Leeway, Killing Time, Breakdown, and Warzone. We realized there was a connection and we would definitely be a band. Within the following month we finished off our first three songs (sorry folks but if you write a song in 10 minutes, it's probably not going to be very good). The songs were something different that the stuff out at the time. We had a lot of straight up punk/thrash/hardcore, but also a lot of blues with some rap, reggae, southern rock -influences. The stuff was different, and it stuck out more than what we were hearing from other local or national groups. By Sept we had six songs plus a designated cover song, "New Release" by Killing Time. That was Jim Marela on Guitar, Mario (Guitar) and Tony Simoes (drums), then me on vocals. Our friend Joel from the classic NJHC band "The Human Offense" filled in for us on bass for the first two shows, the first being Friday November 13th 1992 with Biohazard, Dog Eat Dog, and Enrage at Studio One in Newark, NJ, and we were only going by the name Bloodline. Our second show was with Bad Brains on Dec. 3rd, 1992, and by that point we started hearing about other bands with the same name. I got news of a hardcore band from Minneapolis named Bloodline, so we became NJ Bloodline. The name stuck out like a sore thumb, kind of like our music, so we defined the name and it defined us too. By our third show we added J-Crime on Bass and we were complete.

In the early days, did it take NJ Bloodline a lot of time and effort before getting recognised?
In general, how were these early shows? Well just imagine our first show being in 1992, and playing with Biohazard, the show would be packed regardless who was on stage at the time. We did get a great response at our first show, and by the second show we got people moving. It progressed well, and actually by our third show there had been enough of a buzz (and also enough people talking shit...) going around North Jersey about NJBL so naturally that set turned out to be insane. We established ourselves as a "party hard dancefloor band" by the end of that show and over the next few months.

How was the NJ scene in the beginning of the nineties? I guess everyone immediately thinks about New York when it's about this period.
Well, NYHC was really strong at this point. Being from North Jersey though, we were all pretty much part of the NYC scene, and many of the shows happened near us. I grew up 10 minutes from CBGB's but still on the NJ side. I and alot of my friends were closer to CB's than alot of kids from NYC. Of course just saying you were from Jersey, many times you didn't get the attention that a band claiming NYC did. I personally didn't care, none of us did, we all just played when and wherever we could.NJ started getting really strong in like 91-92. The shows went to being packed for a national/headlining act with a couple locals, to packed by just locals. Everyone came out too, metalheads, skins, punks, skaters, etc. The bands were really a wide spectrum too. All of the bands had the NJ-thing about them, but also something distinct about them too. It was a good time to be a teenager.It's funny because I was talking to Mike the Gook last night (from Cold as Life, Sworn Enemy, Agents of Man, and now Vehement Serenade, we had a little party for him) at a death metal show (oh and one thing you all need to know about North Jersey as well as Brooklyn, death metal and hardcore bands played together constantly and shit was cool!), and he expressed one thing he loves about this area is how you don't see really metal heads and hardcore kids at the same shows anymore except here, nor do you see them dance the way they do here.


Which are your favourite NJ bands? I know bands like E-Town Concrete, NJ Bloodline, Floorpunch and Fury of Five for instance all were from NJ, but did they have any affiliation with eachother?
Well everyone knows each other pretty much. As far as E-town (E-town actually stands for Elizabeth, NJ our/my home town), I've known those kids forever and they actually played their first set on NJBL's equipment. Also Eric from E-town Concrete is married to our guitar player's (Frank's) sister. Fury are all pretty much good friends of ours as well. I live near those guys actually now since I moved to the Jersey shore. I first met Stickman ( AKA Ismean) in I think 1990 when he had a band called Locked Up In Life. The era when we were all around and the "NJ tough-guy style" or whatever was in full bloom, we were all pretty much always hanging out together. It was Fury, 2nd to None, E-town, NJBL, and Fat Nuts -always hanging out together. Good times...

How did Locked Up In Life sound like? Who else was in that band, and did they record anything?
I believe Mike Terror was also in Locked up in Life. Fury actually covered one of the LUIL songs called "Megablast to Hell". Stickman also had another band called Position of Power. The only thing either of those bands released was demo tapes.
Both bands were really heavy and dancy. I call it "stompy", others may refer to it as "beatdown". It's definitely more high energy than what you would call "beatdown".

New Jersey bands have a certain hip hop flavour to them, take ETC, 2nd To None and NJBL. What's up with that?
Just a bunch of ghetto rats, nothing more anyone can say.

Between the first demo (1993) and the next recording were 5 years. What exactly happened in this period?
For starters 2 lineup changes... After about 2 years since the start Jim and Jay left, each to sort out their own problems. Joey (my best friend) joined on bass and pretty much started teaching himself the instrument from that point. Tony played drums for maybe another few months then left due to a new job. We recruited an old friend named Ray Chojnowski (R.I.P. my brother) to play drums. The new rhythm section spawned songs that were more along the lines of "shake your ass" type material. It wasn't funk, it was good dancy beats delivered heavily as fuck. One common factor of NJBL was soul, any member of the band had to have it. Joey met Frank after another year passed and we were on hiatus. They got together with Ray and then called me after two jam sessions because they felt that we were about to take off and start something new. They had written a piece and wanted me to set lyrics down (that's actually the song Blackout #2 on the "Faceless" LP). Frank that fucking dick (hahahaha), pulled me aside to talk after maybe the third time we jammed as a four piece without Mario still (mind you I was stoned and not ready for this at all!). He asked me what our intentions were being the three of us had already been in NJBL. I told him we were trying to do something new. He replies with, "I like that band, I thought I was joining NJ Bloodine". I'll never forgive him for it, nor will I ever stop thanking him for it at the same time. Ray and Mario worked together at the time and began arguing at work, so Ray left. Ian had just left Fat Nuts, and I was asked to sing for Fat Nuts at the same time (Seth was both singer and drummer Fat Nuts, so it was either get a drummer he could work with or a singer that would entertain). While we got Ian into learning the old material, we really weren't playing, so it made sense me being in Fat Nuts. Well with Ian being added to the band, there was the "Be Afraid" lineup. This lineup had the same soul, but with a lot more high level violent energy. The stuff they were writing was intense and it got me going. I found the raw screaming power and added it to my style. The first show with the new lineup was chaos. People that had seen NJBL before expected 1993. They got not only that but the five faced demon we turned into. We went a year just gigging and finding and tweaking the exact new sound before the infamous "Red Tape" aka "Be Afraid" was finally released. The next couple years changed us all, and Mario eventually left about 9 months after "Be Afraid" came out.

Almost all the NJBL stuff was released on vinyl. Of course in the 90's it was still the standard, but the Faceless album is available in vinyl version too. Do you prefer vinyl to cd?
Vinyl is always something collectable. Chris Rykers knew Frank, Joey, and I would love to have Faceless on vinyl because we're old farts. It was necessary to put out a 7 inch for us just to have, and also to just release something that had 666 limited copies. Also the fact that people approached us and said they wanted to release vinyl for us, and it wasn't out of our pocket. The entirity of "Be Afraid" was never available on vinyl, nor was the "93 demo". Vinyl to me was always something collectable only. It was really a pain in the ass dubbing it onto tape. The standard for me was always cassette (through the 80's and 90's) because you can't carry a record player on the train or on your skateboard. Not to mention the cd player in my car skips every so often when riding over a speed bump, imagine a fucking turntable in your center console. When we released the cassette version of "Be Afraid", it was meant to be the last great "tape". I wanted it mastered and laid out like a late 80's major label release on cassette, and I specifically wanted it to be a clear red tape like Iron Maiden's "Stranger in a Strange Land" cassingle/7 inch. If you take a listen to the cd version of "Be Afraid" it actually sounds like shit in comparison because it was specifically mastered for cassette, The moron who mastered it for cd when RPP released it didn't read any of the instructions we sent, and the guy who did the layout ignored our instructions and the specs we sent him as well. WE EVEN SENT HIM THE LAYOUT SPECS IN METRIC!!! That pissed Frank off more than any of us because he's the one who went to art school and the one who did the artwork. So to sum it up we're into how our releases look and sound. It should be a total experience when you get a new cd (maybe because I'm a stoner and do bong hits while listening to music in my apartment all alone, reading the lyrics, and peeping the artwork).Vinyl's always the collectable memoribilia thing, but really not that important to me. I personally am all about the presentation of the entire package. Isn't that what you're actually paying for?


NJ Bloodline was / is a big band and has a thick following, but always stayed 'underground'. I mean you never got like Madball or Terror. What do you think of this?
Well, we ran into too many obstacles when the actual opportunity to make a serious run at doing NJBL for an actual living. The reason for that I think as well is that even though we had already been around for a substantial amount of time, a lot of kids were just starting to catch up with what our older material was all about. What amazes me is even while we were broken up and up to as recent as maybe a week ago, I've read e-mails from people just finding out about NJBL now. They say it's good to hear some fresh new shit that's hard as nails, or just say shit that implies they think we're a new band. It'd be great to break large and have the opportunity to do this full time. Who wouldn't want that? That's why I get a little angry when people hate on bands that have blown up or that are currently blowing up. I'm content though just as long as whoever gets into us really feels that shit!Over time it may actually happen where our stuff becomes cult status and we get to that point in popularity. I just hope if it ever happens, we're not too deteriorated from years of playing shows and partying to fully take advantage of it.

Next to the musical variation another element which is, to me, typical to NJ Bloodline is humor, how do you see this?
If you never laugh, you never live. Sarcasm makes for great lyrics and has always been part of some of my favorite songs. Old hardcore bands I still love to this day like D.R.I., the Beastie Boys, the Dead Kenedys, and Murphy's Law all have plenty of funny stuff in their lyrics and liner notes. I actually think the abrasive styled humor people find in my lyrics is misunderstood most of the time, but whatever.To sum it up, we still do this because it's fun. The guys with guitar/bass/drums play what's fun to play, I can only say what's fun to say. We switch back and forth from angry to happy, then stick profound in there -a lot of times in our set. It feels good to say things the right way for each particular song. I tend to say it with shoot to kill-type comedy where noone and nothing is safe.As for the skits in between, just have to take the jokes a little further than the song sometimes or add one where it just totally doesn't belong but somehow make it work also.

There was time when you did the Kiss style make up. When and why did you do that?
Not Kiss, John Wayne Gacy the killer clown...
I did the JWG paint for a halloween show and people started digging the idea, so war paint became a little treat for the kids.
There were times I ran out of either white, black, or red paint and so I couldn't do the clown paint, so I just threw together some quick war paint here and there. Other times I'd slice my forehead open like a wrestler, I've also spit fake blood on the crowd (or bite the inside of my mouth and spit real blood too).
One show the fake blood mist wasn't mixing right so I worked on it in the back by adding some vodka, cinnamon, and orange juice, then spit that on the crowd. I let it go right into a bouncer's eyes one time, then he was all stung and blinded for a few seconds. It was kind of like the mist you see Japanese wrestlers use in matches.
I like the funny last minute theatrics like wrestling themes, war paint, costumes, weapons, etc...
I don't go too crazy with it, but there've been times we did do it and it got messy.
Some people still have the costume samurai swords I bought before our last show in 2001 before we broke up back then. I'll tell you what. That shit was violent. I had my friend throw out swords to the crowd and from nowhere was blood, lots of blood!
"Nick did we buy fake blood capsules?"
"No. Why?"
"Oh shit, people got cut already! Hahahahahahaha!!!"
"Fuck it, just keep singing!"

Next to NJ Bloodline you've also been in a lot of other bands such as Homicidal, Hoods, Fat Nuts and now Hell Brigade. How were those experiences?
Fat Nuts was just mad fun. I was helping some friends and getting in shape. Fat Nuts had a purpose according to Seth. I knew NJBL would be doing something monumental soon too. Fat Nuts charged me up I always got energized singing that stuff. Hoods and NJBL became friends right away. The bands were almost identical in regards to the members' personalities. We all got along, and we all still do. I first joined Hoods in 2001 when Benito went to prison and after NJBL played our last show. I was thinking it was just a fill in but ended up staying and eventually moving to CA for a little while. I couldn't handle living in CA though. One thing to just live on the road and see friends and family when home. Then there's live on the road with no family when you get home. It took its toll and I had to come back to NJ. I also joined them again in 2006 and helped record "Ghettoblaster". Once again it was just too difficult being that my life is here in NJ. I had so much fun with Hoods and always do whether singing or just watching. Who knows, you may even see it happen again. When Homicidal started it was a little something featuring members of One4One, Bulldoze, and NJBL. The original lineup was Frank (NJBL), on guitar, Mike the Bull (Bulldoze), Brian the Kid (SubZero), Seth (One4One), and myself on vocals. We were basically trying to do "North Jersey the right way" once again. Everybody was sick of the way that current stuff mostly sucks nowadays. Once the name Homicidal was chosen, the mission statement of that band was just more important that the band or any of the members in it. Frank and I were arguing at the time, and I decided to leave Homicidal, plus ask my friend Brian (McG) to sing. I started jamming with Tomoki (of EGH and Dyingrace) and Hell Brigade started coming together.I personally liked Hell Brigade the most because it was more something to my personal tastes and liking. It was straight up thrash punk with plenty of driving hardcore grooves. On top of the 4 song ep there are still about 9-10 unreleased Hell Brigade songs we finished up. If we ever get the chance I'd like to finally record the stuff and lay it to rest.


Being in NJBL and some other bands, for such a long time, what do you consider as the hardest part of it?
The only hard part for me is being away from home, I think that goes pretty much for the other guys in NJBL as well. To be more specific, I personally just always wish we could bring more of our friends with us whenever we go on tour for a few days. Another thing is you can only find "Taylor Ham" (aka Pork Roll) in NJ! The biggest gripe about touring especially about NJBL, we all like to cook and eat together. You seldom get to do that when on tour, but when we do get the chance we cook and eat like a band, the same way we play music as a band. Let's say Joey and I are making breakfast, Ian does the dishes. If Frank makes breakfast, Ian does the dishes. If we have one of our friends with us doing merch and they cook breakfast, Ian does the dishes. I'm not even joking, Ian always does the dishes.

Do you still remember how you got in to hardcore, and the first shows you went to?
I was always into punk even when I was young, and eventually got into thrash so I was always into hardcore music just I never knew there was an actual name for it. I was all about heavy stuff like Celtic Frost and Venom too. I was never into power or glam metal (it was garbage then and still is today) like most people my age were. Face it, that shit was awful and Motley Crue blows.Being a kid and not really knowing the difference there were just two classifications which were the bands that were corny and bands that were good. The bands that stuck out the most when I discovered them were the Misfits, Bad Brains, Dead Kenedys, D.R.I., (First Album-) Exodus, Cro Mags, etc...I started going to shows around 12 years old. First to local shows, then I'd venture into NYC or down the Jersey shore. My home was the bricks though. My friends and I were usually at the clubs in Newark like Studio One (R.I.P.) and The Pipeline (R.I.P.). There was also Connections in Clifton (good riddance) which I hated going to (mainly because it smelled like cat piss and my allergies always bothered me in that place, but they had some great shows there. Then there was the Cricket Club, which was in probably the worst area of all, right down the block from Chris Bulldoze's house in Irvington.By that time I was deeply into the music and certain bands made it impossible to stay home. I loved walking into shows and having the sense of fear hanging over the entire place. It wasn't fear of getting beat up, it was fear of the place just erupting into chaos and getting trampled or just watching someone pull off an impressive move then getting clobbered in my amazement.

Which were the best hardcore shows you've seen?
Leeway, Suicidal Tendencies, Kurbjaw @ City Gardens in Trenton, NJ. I think 94Biohazard and Wrecking Crew at Studio one in Newark. 1992 or 93 not sureAlive and Well festival in Asbury Park either 96 or 97Leeway, Mucky Pup at the Cricket Club in 91Cro-Mags reunion where MCA got up and played bass when they covered Right Brigade hmmmmm-95-96Last August -Bad Brains in the parking lot of the Fastlanes in Asbury ParkToo many to try to remember right now.

Being in the hc scene for such a long time now, do think that a lot has changed? And would this change be for the better or for the worse then?
What I said about that pure element of fear when walking into shows in that last response, is missing nowadays. Now the kids fear not fitting in, or fear not being assimilated. Everyone looks the same. The people on the floor all do the same shitty moves without any regard for rhythm. I remember the crowd being a mix of skins, punks, metalheads, skaters, and just people that didn't fit in a specific category years ago. A lot of the bands nowadays sound the same and most of them suck. I liked how bands really didn't sound very similar when I first started going to shows. Every group I'd actually take time to go check out had something distinct about them. Sorry, but I'm being dead honest here. Also I just pretty much go to death metal or goregrind shows. Funny but those are the bands that are interesting to me now, and those are also the bands sound more like good heavy thrashing dancy hardcore, while "hardcore scene" bands just sound like bad and severely abridged metal. I mean don't get me wrong, there are still alot of bands that are putting out well written hardcore with a serious fire. Hoods always does that well, Homicidal is coming on strong, Billyclub Sandwich is amazing, The Ice (Germany), NTB (no matter what style they do they do it well), Lose None (BRUTAL!!!). Just have to look a little more these days. There are more bands now, that's great. There's more kids and bigger crowds now, that's amazing. I just think that musicians who are trying to put out inspirational hc music need to try a little harder. HC heads were always "picky" I think that should be one thing that remains.

So I guess you ain't the biggest fan of what is called 'metalcore' nowadays?
I like brutal hybrid metal hardcore, but screamo tight pants dyed black haired flay C chord crap is the enemy. There is already a Hatebreed and already a Converge. Also, there are a lot of bands that do metalcore the right way and the rough way, that should be getting more attention. Metalcore is a natural progression that just has too many people thinking it's easier than it should be. Too much of it is redundant and lazy sounding. Also too many singers are concentrating on how they say things, not what they're actually saying. That's a big thing about hardcore in general, the lyrics are the voice of more than just the vocalist.

Hardcore speaking, are there still some bands you think we should check out?
Oh yeah, Lager (NJ), Everyday Dollars (NYC), Jerk City (featuring Danny from Shattered Realm), Suffer the Living (NJ). I mentioned a few before as well. Like I also stated before, just have to look around for those bands that move you.

You've been in Europe, and played shows here. How did you like it? I'm sure you know a couple of good European hardcore bands. What do you think of European hardcore and the scene here in general?
The European scenes are pretty cool. I myself would prefer to hear more European bands' lyrics in their own language(s) though. That would sound and just all in all be more something authentic. Aren't we describing the experiences of our lives in lyrical format? Come real, use your own slang. I know that English is a common factor when crossing regional borders, so everyone just speaks English anyway, but I'd like to actually go in depth and read something in the pure form from the mind of the lyricist.
I love St. Hood (Finland), they're fucking HARD as nails. Punishable Act are just classic Berlin hardcore with a distinct style. Kickback is definitely in the top rung also. No Turning Back, as I may have said before are just great with whatever approach they come with. Black Friday 29 are good classic style. I could go on forever too.

Something completely else now, how did you actually get the nickname 'Wreak Havoc'?
My name's actually "Enrique", and since 6th grade people have shortenend it and called me "Rique", then eventually it was shortenend furthermore to "Riq". I can't even come close to remembering exactly when it started to stick but just once the first NJBL recordings were done, it was final.What some of my close friends say that "Wreak Havoc" is almost like an articulate well spoken Mr. Hyde or the Hulk, while "Rique" is still a nut just a little more passive and polite. At the reunion show in 2006, I remember going outside for some air about 10 minutes before our set, and hearing people say, "He's going to go transform right now, watch when he gets back!".


Thanks for the interview! If you got anything left to say, go ahead.
Let me shout out Waking the Cadaver (they're fucking sick!). Thanks to everyone we've met and will meet. Anyone who's bought, downloaded, or stolen any of our cd's or 7"s. See you all in Sept hopefully.

Check out the band yourself:

www.myspace.com/njbloodline
www.njbloodline.com