Here is an interview I conducted with Boston hardcore icon...Frankie Chairs.
He talks about his new band No Second Chance, his old band Betrayed By All, the Boston scene and a variety of other topics.
I really want to thank Frankie for taking the time to answer all my silly ass questions.
No Second Chance Interview. 4-29-11 <<====== april 29th, florence and normandy hahahaha
1. Give us a brief history of No Second Chance, what you guys are about, and tell us how things are going for the band.
No Second Chance is a band made up of people who became friends from going to shows, we've been compared to 100 Demons, Merauder, All Out War, A Death for Every Sin, etc... although I don't think we sound like any particular band.. we write music for the real kids who can relate and the lyrics deal with every day life, we have a demo coming out soon, and all of the songs basically sum up the last year of my life, I didn't write lyrics for those songs, they just poured out of me, without me even thinking, the last year of my life just spilled into songs, and it was the worst year I've ever experienced and probably will ever experience in life.. after Betrayed By All broke up, I didn't want to do another band, but this is like therapy for me, some people play music for the fun of it, and others do it because they need it, I definitely need it in my life. A lot of people have shown great support towards this band and we've been playing a TON of local shows over the last year, we're just about ready to start hitting up places all over the east coast, and I cant wait to see some old friends and make some new ones
2. What happened with Betrayed By All?
Betrayed By All had a good run for a bunch of friends who wanted to play beatdown at a time when beatdown was looked down upon, we never made any money and we were paying out of pocket to play most shows, towards the end we couldn't finish our sets haha every show we played got shut down or we got unplugged because the violence was ridiculous (fights, people getting hurt etc.) we had been talked to by a bunch of labels and offered some overseas tours, but the truth is most of the people in the band just weren't feeling it anymore. Our guitarist is now in a stoner rock band and our bassist sings for a grind band, they still love and play music but beatdown just really isn't their thing anymore. our other guitarist is playing some shows with Merauder now, so him and I are the only 2 people left in BBA that are still really into hardcore
3. In your opinion, what has changed from your early days/experiences in the hardcore scene as to where it is today?
I think when I first got into hardcore the majority of the kids were into it because of the music, they were into it because they didn't fit in anywhere else, and they came to shows and seen other outcasts like themselves, people used to support bands, buy merch give them places to stay, book shows, DO ZINES (THANKS FOR THE INTERVIEW BTW) and it wasn't a popularity contest it was our way of life... now people only care about the bands that are popular and show up and don't even listen to the music, I used to travel hours to numerous states to see shows, and that's how I became friends with some amazing people, now kids wont even travel an hour for an amazing show, the heart just isn't there anymore...hardcore has been taken over by the same people it was started to rebel against
4. What do you think makes Boston & Mass. hardcore stand out from other hardcore scenes?...What makes it unique?
I think for the longest time Boston kids really stuck together, we policed our scene and looked out for people. People knew that you didn't fuck around when you came to a show in Boston, and everyone got put in their place especially bouncers (dbd's "glory days" sums it up well) unfortunately violence hurt the Boston scene probably more than anywhere else, once the police got involved clubs wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with hardcore shows and there's definitely still a negative stigma attached to hardcore in Mass. but the real kids are still here.. I've been to shows all around the country and there's just something about Mass. shows that you cant fuck with, it doesn't happen all the time but there will be a show and the chaos mixed with brotherhood will still make me proud to be a hardcore kid from Mass.
5. If you could hand pick members to form a hardcore super group, who would be in the band?
Damn, Mike Score from All Out War singing, Matt Henderson from Madball on guitar, that's basically all you need haha those 2 and no matter what the band would sound amazing.
6. What and who are some of your biggest influences, musically and personally?
I think the cool thing about No Second Chance is that we all appreciate different types of music from oi to metal to hip hop to rock and even country, if its good we'll respect it and probably take some sort of influence from it. Personally my biggest influences are my family and friends who always have my back.. Some of my favorite non-hardcore bands are Black Sabbath, GG Allin, The Oppressed, The Last Resort, Cocksparrer, N.W.A., Special Teamz, Cannibal Corpse, David Allen Coe...the list goes on forever.
7. What do you see for the future of No Second Chance?
My personal goal for the future is just to get our music heard, I want to start playing new states that we haven't hit up yet, and I want an excuse to go see my friends in places that I don't get to visit nearly enough.
8. If it were your last day on Earth, how would Frankie Chairs spend it?
Oh shit hahahaha, I'm definitely a person who likes to party (yes, most of the stories are actually true hahaha) so all I'll say is my friends and I would have the greatest fucking day in the history of mankind.. I truly believe people like me will never be rich bcuz of the insanity that would happen hahaha
9. One on one...who wins... Bird or Magic?...and why?
LARRRY MUTHAFUCKING BIRD!!!!! my favorite athlete of all time, I even have a Larry Bird tattoo. Magic was great and he had more god given talent than Larry but NO ONE had the heart and determination that Larry Bird had
10. Do you think David Ortiz looks like Esther Rolle from the show "Good Times"?...and how can you stand Kevin Youkilis?...and who's your favorite Red Sox player of all time?
hahaha for the record David Ortiz looks like a California raisin! RAISIN POWER! hahaa, and as far as youk, he's a down to earth guy and you can see him all around Boston eating at normal places and chillin with fans so I have to respect him for that.. Ted Williams is definitely the greatest red sox player of all time , and in my humble Boston opinion the greatest baseball player to ever live.
11. Any chance of getting Slaine to drop a verse for a future No Second Chance song?
hahaha, I would LOVE to have Slaine drop a verse on one of our albums, maybe I'll send him a fb message haha, Slaine reps Boston harder than anyone, if you wanna know what Boston is like, just listen to one of his albums, dude paints pictures with his rhymes.
12. Your top 5 hardcore bands of all time?
This is tough haha, not gonna put too much thought into it, cuz i could spend days thinking about it so here we go... in no particular order... All Out War, Madball, Fury of Five, Bulldoze, E-Town Concrete... if we were talking albums I would have added in Denied "together as none" No Retreat "rise of the underdog" Blood for Blood "spit my last breath" Terrorzone "self realization" Stigmata "do unto others" hahaa I could do this for days.
13. One band you wish would come out of retirement and play a show?
I guess if I had to pick one band that i would like to see play a re-union show it would be No Retreat. They never got the respect they deserved and were fucking amazing, still heavier than anything out today.
14. What do you guys do when you're not busy with the band?
Everyone in the band works a fucking shit load of hours. I work a ton and then basically just try to spend as much time with my friends as possible.
15. Best show you've ever played and craziest shit to go down at any show you've played? (doesn't matter which band you were in at the time)
Some crazy shit that went down at some of the shows I've played, BBA played a show where kids kicked and punched holes in the walls and were pulling out the insulation and hitting people with it, another show the sound guy got his nose broken and I had to beg him not to shut the show down, tons of people dancing with chairs and mic stands, we had another infamous show where a lot of shit went down, and bands ended up breaking up over it, we were shut off during our last song, we had nothing to do with the fights but had to walk over a few inches of blood to get out of the club, those are a few that come to mind.. a lot of crazy shit has happened but
hands down the best show I've ever played was in San Juan, Puerto Rico. BBA toured p.r. with Homicidal and we played a show at a tourist attraction/restaurant called S.O.S. burger we played on the 2nd floor and kids were trying to basically throw each other out the windows while we played, we had to take breaks during every song because kids were knocked out or hurt and I honestly don't think I've ever seen a show where kids have danced that hard. We played with LOS BROTHERS and DONNIE BRASKO some amazing bands from p.r. that some people might not have heard of.
16. What beverages and things do No Second Chance endorse?
Me personally, JACK DANIELS, JOHNNIE WALKER, AND JAMESON hahahaa as a band I would say Gatorade, and Jameson..(other than our drummer who doesn't drink) me and Craig are both fat so I'm gonna have to add Dominos onto that list hahahaha
17. Best band to come out of Boston?
That's tough as far as biggest influence its obviously gotta be Blood for Blood, (i listened to their demo EVERY single day in high school) but its tough, I watched my friends in Death Before Dishonor go from writing songs in a shitty practice space to touring the world and I still get excited when i listen to their cds (especially the songs that i sang on)... another Boston band that i would LOVE to see play a re-union show would be Cease 2 Exist, some of my best friends in the world and they were an unbelievable band that never got an ounce of the credit they deserved(most of the band is Japanese and living back in Japan now and dealing with the awful destruction from the tsunami)
18. Final comments...say what ever you wanna say...
The hardcore scene has some of the dirtiest low life rat bastards you'll ever find, but it also has some of the most amazing people in this world and I'm extremely lucky to have the friends that I have so I'd like thank all of my friends (worldwide) who have always had my back and continue to support whatever I do, special shout out to all my close friends in New England, my brothers in PA, the amazing island of Puerto Rico, all of the Baltimore dirtbags and the rest of the real kids that I'm lucky enough to have as friends! Thanks again for the interview, you had some awesome questions! It's greatly appreciated!
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