Live-Metal.Net - Interviews: Terror

July 25, 2009

L.A.'s Terror has been playing their brand of hardcore since 2002, old-school hardcore with a metallic edge that's far from today's metalcore acts. The spirit, energy and drive of Terror's hardcore anthems translates to stellar live shows, with circle pits, stage-diving and crowds going buck-wild. This is largely due to the onstage actions and persona of frontman Scott Vogel. Active in the hardcore scene long before many of today's fans were even born, Vogel made a mark playing in hardcore bands in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., before forming Terror. The band has released several albums, their latest being 2007's The Damned, The Shamed. Since its release, the band has been on tour relentlessly.

You've got to see Terror live to get a full appreciation from what Vogel brings to the stage. During their set at the 10 for $10 hardcore tour at Sonar in Baltimore, Md., he single-handily lit a fuse under the asses of a somewhat subdued crowd, encouraging stage dives, circle pits and constant crowd participation. Needless to say, by the end of Terror's set, Vogel had turned the place into one great hardcore party, with fans going crazy onstage and a few hundred happy, exhausted fans.

But before Terror's set, Vogel sat down with Live-Metal.net's Jeff Maki and Ryan Mavity outside of the club. There he talked about the tour, the message in Terror's music and all things hardcore. And if that wasn't enough, during the interview there was a sighting of H.R. from Bad Brains, who later took the stage with Terror for an impromptu jam.

From talking to The Ghost Inside earlier, they said that you had a hand in putting together the tour?

I wouldn't go that far. I put a word in for them because there was an element to the tour that I thought was missing and they'd fill it good. The people that actually did book this tour—our booking agent and one of our managers—they would at least listen to what I had to say. They would ask my opinion and they're one of the bands that I brought up that should be on it

A guy named Nate is really our manager and a guy named Paul Conroy is who I'm referring to. They're the two behind this and I'm sure they had us in mind from the start when they were putting this together. And it's kind of wild because the first thing I heard of this, it was gonna be Suicidal Tendencies and Hatebreed—one or the other or both. And I was like, “Holy shit!” But availability [was a problem] ... and if I'm not mistaken, [Suicidal Tendencies vocalist] Mike Muir is having a baby. I hope I'm not mistaken. So that didn't work, and Hatebreed's in Europe right now. So it didn't work out, but that what the first thing I heard and I was like, “Holy shit.” If it was those two bands for ten dollars ...

Very good. The turnouts have been big. I think that last night in New York there was over 1,000 people and the first show in Philly was six or seven hundred. And it's pretty much straightforward hardcore, with a few exceptions, and that's a really good turnout. For us to play to that many people, anywhere, anytime, that's awesome. And the energy's been great, everybody's gettin' along. The drives have been short so far. The weather hasn't been too hot.

The Damned, The Shamed has been out for some time now. How has it been doing and how long will you continue to tour on it?

How has the album been doing? Record sales-wise, it's sold less than the last one, but I think that's what everyone is doing these days. Reaction-wise, it's been great. Honestly, to myself and the band—the people we're concerned about, people who we value their opinions told us that if it's not our best record, it's pretty fuckin' close. And I still love it. I listen to it once in a while, which is something pretty normal for me. But reaction-wise, it's been great. The songs go over live good. I just think judging it by record sales now just doesn't work. Unless you have a label really behind you and you get a really huge push or you're doin' the fad at the right time—what's cool, which we're definitely not doin'—you're not gonna sell a ton of records. We just get out there and tour.

Terror's always gonna be Terror and we're always gonna be fine. We could always be bigger and make more money, but we're always just who we are. Not too much to complain about.

Yeah, we definitely started writing. We just had a band meeting two days ago in Philadelphia and the plan is to hopefully have it recorded no later than April. And then out by June or July.

Terror used to be on Trustkill, a more hardcore-oriented record label. How was the transition over to a more well-known metal label like Century Media? Have they just let you go and do your own thing? Do they want you to be more metal?

I could say both good and bad about both, but I don't really want to get into that. When we were on Trustkill, he actually did a lot for us and things were good. And I think then, when record sales started to fall apart and we didn't really realize it, things weren't so good. And then we started talking about going to other labels. And one thing about Century Media that's great is that it's worldwide. We're a band that travels everywhere. We don't just focus on the U.S. So that's one thing that's really helping us out. As much as I want to say that our label doesn't do this for us or doesn't do that, they do this for this band and not for them ... One of my best friends has a small record label. And when I watch him do everything he can for a band and invest money in all sorts of things—before the record is even released, everyone already has it for free. And it's a shitty situation. And I think I realize that. So instead of really getting caught up and mad at your label, you just gotta be appreciative that we can tour and pretty much play anywhere in the world and have people that give us respect. I'd rather focus on that rather than why our label doesn't put an ad in Rolling Stone. Because it's just not realistic at this point.

Terror's bio says that you've been a key figure in the hardcore scene's survival. Is this the L.A. scene or just hardcore in general?

I grew up in Buffalo and I guess I've just been doin' this for a long time. I've been in bands since like 1989. A lot of people have either come or gone, or changed and started playing more rock or something else. And I have pretty much done straightforward hardcore bands. I kind of always just stayed involved. If I'm not playin' a show, I'm probably at a show supporting other bands, which I think is pretty important. I'd say that I've dedicated most of my time and money and well-being to the hardcore scene. So if people take note of that, that's cool. I don't really know anything else, so it's not like I'm trying to. It comes second nature to me I guess.

You're well known for your onstage antics and getting crowds super-hyped and just fucking crazy. I saw you guys at Sounds of the Underground and you had that crowd going apeshit ...

[laughs] The last two nights I've kind of been getting scolded a little bit: “Somebody's gonna get hurt, or we're gonna have a riot.” But it's by people that I respect and need to listen to their opinion. So I would like to say that I would like people to go as crazy as possible, but right now I'm kind of at a funny place where I gotta start thinking about what I'm doin before I go to jail or get sued. I'd like to see someone sue me because I don't have too much [laughs].

But people that put a lot of time and effort into the band behind the scenes, that really want to help us grow, are taking a look at us. And [saying], “A lot of these clubs aren't gonna let you come back.” So I don't think anything's gonna change really, but there's such a thin line between positive craziness and negative insanity. And we just gotta keep it on that positive side.

Most every hardcore band has a message that they want to relay, either through their music, lyrics or lifestyle. What is Terror's, if any?

I don't know, but one thing that people are attracted to with Terror, like I said earlier, we don't have any sort of ego or image. We look exactly like we do when we go onstage right now.

I know that all night long you'll see people in Terror watching the other bands in the crowd, jumping on people, getting jumped on. I think we just come off as peers instead of “look at me up here, we're so great.” So I think the message is the world is kind of an ugly place.

[Scott glances to the other side of the block where a sharp-dressed black man with long dreadlocks is walking down the street with a guitar case over his back^[1]]

That looks like the singer of the Bad Brains ... I wouldn't doubt it ...

[Scott regains his thoughts] The world is kind of an ugly place, and there's a lot of bullshit around us. And I just feel lucky that I have followed this escape from it. And I actually believe in the music and message. And I'm trying to live it. I don't expect everyone to like my band—there's a lot of bands I don't like.

I really think that was him [referring to the man resembling the singer from the Bad Brains].

Yeah ... [pauses] I'm kind of in awe right now ...

[The man continues to walk away to our right until he is out of view.]

[Back to the interview] But I think everyone should just live their life and get what they want. I think about all the people I went to high school with and wonder what they've been doing. And it's like, I'm in a different city or different country almost every day, living free. I'm not really a punk rock guy but I live a very punk rock life—I don't have to answer to anyone. I think that's the ultimate dream for me.

In recent years, the lines between hardcore and metal have been blurred. And now we have metalcore as well. What do you think of the whole hardcore and metal scenes and where would you place Terror?

I would place Terror definitely as a hardcore band, but we definitely have metal influence in our sound. And I think people that are into metal are also into a certain type of energy. And they can feel that energy that they can get out of metal with Terror.

A really rewarding thing for us was on [being on] tour with Chimaira. We get up in front of all these people and they're probably like, “Who are these jocks? Who are these straightedge kids? What are they doing here?” And by the end of the set, they're fuckin' banging their head. That's very rewarding to me. Playing to a bunch of people that know all your stuff and are just psyched— that can be really rewarding too. But playing to different people and letting them feel our energy, and them “getting it,” means a lot.

And blurred lines and stuff like that— you're right. There's a lot of bands out there that call themselves hardcore bands but they probably aren't. They probably don't even know the history or what being a hardcore band is, and that's fine, I'm not here to judge anybody. I just take comfort in the fact that there will always be real bands. There's always gonna be real people putting on a real show.

This tour's great and has a great meaning behind it. Something that got me into hardcore is that it was about using your head and fighting with your mind. And I think that this tour is summing up that, and I hope that people support it.

^[1]As it turns out, the man that resembled the singer of the Bad Brains was in fact H.R., singer of the Bad Brains. He was unannounced as a guest at the 10 for $10 show, so he seemingly just showed up to Sonar on his own. Before Terror took the stage, he sat in front of the drums and just looked out with a blank stare into the crowd. Then when Terror began to play, H.R. jumped to his feet for an impromptu jam session with the band. Security actually tried to remove him at one point, but Terror apparently informed them it was OK. Remove H.R. at a hardcore show? I don't think so. H.R. waved his hands in the air to the fans after the short jam, then entered the audience and shook hands. The situation was a bit strange, yet I couldn't think of anyone better to see at a hardcore show.