Enjoy!
DO: Chris Moore-you are a world renowned road warrior, touring the planet with Magrudergrind, Coke Bust, DOC..yet I also remember you as a young kid (with one baby dreadlock) on your 2nd US tour, chilling in Chicago looking for internet, unable to secure a gig in time. Tell me about the first few tours Magrudergrind embarked on. What was the whole experience like, and what sticks out in your mind from the early days.
CM: - Hahah. Yeah I think I met you when I was 15 or 16. When Magrudergrind was preparing for our first tour we were still in high school and personally didn’t know anyone who had been on tour before. So it was a total shot in the dark about what to do and what to expect. We booked the whole tour using contacts from that zine Book Your Own Fucking Life. I think our plan was to do a 2 week tour but seeing as we were 15/16 years old and still in high school our parents wouldn’t let us leave for 2 weeks straight. So we did one week in the NE/Midwest, came home for a few days and then one week south. Like I said before we had no idea what to expect, so we prepared for the worst. Canned food, camping stove, tents etc. Our tour vehicle was Avi’s 1980’s Toyota van that looked like a space ship. The engine was in the middle of the car so it got hot as fuck in there. I’m actually still friends with some of the people that we met via BYOFL on that tour. We played a handful of shows with I Object from Buffalo and that was coincidentally their first tour as well. Biff their guitar player is currently on tour with Coke Bust right now haha! Most of the shows were bad but it was a fucking adventure and was really fun.
DO: Early on, the Magrudergrind crew was gaining a lot of steam, yet there was an incident where you did a split 7 inch with Vomit Spawn-a very un p.c. noisecore band. Tell me about the whole situation and what you learned from it. Have Vomit Spawn ever tried to contact you all since?
CM: Yeah that sucked. That was actually our first record. We randomly got contacted by Vomit Spawn who had somehow heard our demo and said that this kid Andreas from Militant Records in L.A. wanted to put it out. A band wanted to do a split with us?? Someone wanted to put our music out on vinyl?! That was a first for us so we jumped at it not even knowing really who the other band was. When we finally got the records in the mail we all sat down and looked at them. I remember the track listing for the Vomit Spawn songs were like “Barb-B-Queer”, “Vegan straight edge dick”, “Cumdumpster”, and something else fucked up. We were kind of speechless. We printed up a slip of paper to put in all of them that said something like “we are not a sexist or homophobic band and didn’t know VS we’re a bunch of bigoted rednecks”or something haha. It was pretty upsetting and disheartening especially it being our first real record. I don’t think the record was ever repressed. We are still good friends with Andreas who put out the record!
DO: As you guys became more and more popular, you suddenly departed ways with Marc your guitar player. People today know that the split was not pretty and there was some tension between Marc and you and Avi. What happened exactly with the whole situation with him leaving? Years on, have you all made up or is there still beef?
CM: Well that’s a pretty loaded question. I’ll try and give you the skinny. Basically the final straw with him is that he stole money from us. On top of lying about dumb shit and being a dickhead he was our friend. Avi had known him since elementary school and I had known him since middle school. Avi also lived with him . It was a pretty big bummer but it was best for the band. After we kicked him out he moved to philly and stole money, stole music equipment, and lied to a bunch of people about dumb shit. He moved to Richmond and did the same thing. He moved to Europe after that and started driving bands. I’m not really sure what he does now. That shit happened so long ago so I don’t really harp on it. He’s a shithead and im sure he will get his if he hasn’t already.
DO: After Marc leaves, Mo (A Warm Gun) joins the band. Why did you decide to go with him as a replacement?
CM: Maurice was a friend and our bands played together a bunch. He was also a sick guitar player. So it worked out pretty well.
DO: During this time, you boys blow up. You tour Asia and Europe, your debut LP comes out on the legendary Six Weeks Records, and your US tours are supporting bigger bands like Unholy Grave and Yacopsae and Phobia. With all of this going on, why the decision to replace Mo as your guitar player?
CM: So we had some U.S. stuff planned and our first big 2 month European tour coming up and earlier that year Maurice shattered his ankle or something skating and had to take off a shit ton of time from work. By the time he recovered he basically had the option to go on tour with us or keep his job working at a veterinary hospital. Out of all of us he was the only one with a good job. I also think we wanted different things from the band so he left. It was totally on good terms though. It was awesome playing music with him. We are still good friends.
DO: Breaking away from the history of Magrudergrind for a minute, tell me a little about yourself. What drummers growing up really pushed you to make the decision to play drums?
CM: Believe it or not, watching Chong play drums in Up in Smoke made me want to start playing drums. Drummers like D.H. Peligro (Dead Kennedy’s), Steve Charlesworth (Heresy), Earl Hudson (Bad Brains), Pete Sandoval (Terrorizer, Morbid Angel), Mick Harris (Napalm Death), and Max Ward (WHN?,Spazz,
Plutocracy, Capitalist Casualties) were/are really influential in the way I play drums.Also the drumming in Hellnation really blew my mind the first time I heard it.
DO: What do you do when you're not playing in MG, or Coke Bust and touring? I would seem that you would have little time to do anything else besides play in bands and do the usual practice/tour/record routine. How do you do it?
CM: I’ve been working for a pet care company for the last 3 years or so. My boss is very cool and lenient with me taking time off for tours. I really like my job. I enjoy taking care of animals all day. I don’t foresee myself doing it forever but it’s good for now. I also do a lot of shows in DC. Last year the singer of Coke Bust (Nick) and I put on the first year of Damaged City Fest which is mostly hardcore punk bands. It went really well so we are going to do another one next year.
DO: So now, we enter guitar player number 3- RJ. His style his so much heavier and crunchier and just more "metal" in general, yet as scary as that might be to some of your more punk fans, his playing style really works with MG, and the albums he has been on with you guys has led to some really unique and memorable tracks How was the initial response to RJ joining the band, and why did you decide to have him join in the first place?
CM: Same deal with Maurice. He was a friend, played with his bands a bunch, and was a sick guitarist. He joined right before a one week tour with I Object on the west coast and then immediately went to Europe for 2 months. His first show with us was a sold out show at the Smell in LA. It ruled. He learned something like 40 songs for that tour. It was pretty crazy.
DO: Has it been hard for MG to move forward and continue to write and release music since you are all in different states now? What impact has it had on your band if any?
CM: Yeah between us living in different states and conflicting work schedules it makes things a little hard but we are still touring and writing music. Driving up to NY from DC for practice sucks though haha.
DO: Are there any regrets in the MG catalog for you? Anything you wish you could've done differently?
CM: I think its natural to regret or feel embarrassed about things you did when you were a teenager but in the end who cares? It was fun at the time.
DO: Is there anything left that you would like to accomplish as Magrudergrind, and as a musician?
CM: I just want to tour to as many places as possible. I still haven’t been to South America, Africa, China, or Australia yet. It would be awesome to play shows there one day.
DO: When we played together in Ohio a few months ago I told you that I was proud to have seen you grow as a musician over the years. You are a killer fucking drummer and I always enjoy watching you destroy the drumset. Any final words for the interview Chris?
CM: Haha thanks man! You’ve got some brutal pipes yourself my friend! It’s cool that we’ve known each other for this long and haven’t become some rockabilly dudes with flaming martini shirts…yet.
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