BB- For the record who’s in the band now, and who were they playing with before?
JG- Truck Sean? from Dog Eat Dog on rhythm guitar, he also plays in another band called the Full Metal Kings? I got Sammy Yahfa? from…
Herb- [yelling] Lets talk about Sammy Yahfa from fucking Hanoi Rocks!
JG- He used to play in Hanoi Rocks…
Herb- Lets talk about him…
JG- I got Jay…
Herb- No one knew you said that and no one knew…Jimmy are you wearing an Iron Cross Shirt?
JG- Yeah. I got Jay from American Standard playing drums, an uh I got LIT? from D-Generation playing lead guitar.
BB_ Through the years Murphy’s Law has had a ton of line up changes do you think that’s had an effect on your sound?
JG- I think it effects it in a positive way…
Herb- Let me tell a quick Iron Cross Story My grandmother, my fathers mother lives in Denver, the original Wax Trax was in Denver. I go there when I was 14 I skateboard down the street to the original Wax Trax, there was these shitty hillbilly punker apartments were across the street, called the Corvette Apartments this girl named April Beeman, hot punker slut all right I’m hanging out I walked in on her blowin Sab Grey from Iron Cross when I was 14 years old.
[applause]
JG- it changes it in a positive way. Because each person that plays the songs tweaks it gets a little bit different, a little bit better that the guys play ‘em.
HERB- One of the differences is that Jimmy beat up the rest of the band.
JG-I don’t beat up the band I got a bad rep with that.
HERB- Yeah it’s a lineup change!
BB- Your website says that your now an unsigned band what happened with Artimis?
JG- They just did nothing. Uh, the owner of the label, who’s also a musician, was nice enough to actually let us go and also give us the record that he just paid to do. He just felt that the label could do stuff for us.
BB- Couldn’t promote you properly?
JG- Couldn’t promote us, and they just didn’t understand the grassroots or the kids. They do the Baha Men, they tried it started out as a punk rock label, but turned into a major. I mean the guy gave me the record, which is unheard of.
BB- In the last couple of years NYHC bands have been signing to the bigger indie labels Epitaph, Fat, etc. What are the chances Murphy’s Law might end up on one of those labels?
JG- Lot of my Friends run those labels and uh, fat mike is a good friend of mine. Anything’s possible, anyone who could… I think they could do the right thing for us. I think they could do the right thing so that would be good. I hope.
BB- After 9/11 no one wanted to say anything bad about Giuliani, did his response to the tragedy change your opinion, an NYHC opinion of him?
JG- No, No. Not at all I think he just did his job. Any mayor of the City is supposed to be able to behave that way, go to funerals, and go to the site and any human would cry and be upset about it, you know? I mean he did his job he did an exceptional job, but I think that’s a mayor’s gig.
BB- You’ve been doing this for close to 20 years, what are some of the best and some of worst things you’ve seen?
JG- Sorry, I’m still can’t believe that people come to see the band. The worst thing, I’ve seen kids get killed at shows. I’ve seen my friends kill themselves on drugs, It fucks you up. You know I’ve seen a lot of violence and negative things occur. I’ve seen our music become alienated a lot of bands just sound like other bands and not really going with their individuality. Their going with the sound like Sum 41 or some other… trying to go for the next popular thing. I liked it better when it was all underground and controlled by all of us.
HERB- Not only does nobody like a spiller, NOBODY fucking likes Canadians.
BB- Do you ever think you’ll give this up?
JG- I think about it a lot, you know it’s really hard to maintain this life.
BB- You’re getting older do you have other obligations?
JG- That’s just it. I can’t afford to have a home; I’d like to own my own home one-day. I’d like to get married and have kids. And it’s really very difficult.
BB- How much involvement do you and Vinnie Stigma have in the day-to-day operation of Hardcore Tattoos?
JG- Everyday, I run the shop a lot.
BB- Do you guys do tattoos at all?
JG- God forbid. I tattoo kids sometimes just to do the New York Hardcore symbol.
HERB- I have a tattoo of Tattoo from fantasy island.
BB- De plane, De plane?
JG- I learned how to run the machine and set up the machine and some of our friends will come in and I just practice on them?
BB- Do you guys get a lot of business mostly because its people who come in “I want to be tattooed by the place owned by Jimmy G and Vinnie Stigma”?
JG- Kids come in to support the shop. We’re known for good tattoos and great artists our shop is very clean and well run. The thing is we’re also a part of the hardcore community since day one Vinnie and I we’ve helped many kids and any artists in the tattoo scene start their careers in the New York tattoo scene. And once Vinnie and I opened the shop certain people don’t talk to us anymore now. We’ve lost certain friends within punk rock family and it really hurt our feelings. And we’ve also made a lot of friends, a lot of people that we didn’t expect that are really old school like Spider Web. I won’t say the negative thing about those people. I’ll say the positive stuff, Spider Web tattoo artist that’s been tattooing forever, people that love him or hate him whatever. Jonathan Shoehall? love em or hate em, but he came to our shop and wished us luck. And our other friends we grew up with in the punk rock scene, we watched do their first tattoos never came to the shop or wished luck and won’t even talk to us anymore. Sid [Civ?] came to the shop. We did because we love it. We wanted a punk rock place for kids to come hang out, we barbeque in back of the shop. Kids come from all over the world to hang out and get tattoos, we also sell records to. But it’s hard, hard to keep it running like that.
BB-Why start a tattoo parlor as opposed to a label, club or something like that?
JG- That was Vinnie’s call he had the most money, and that’s what he wanted to do. I wanted to open up a bar myself Liars Club New York.
BB- You guys played House of Blues tonight is your relationship that good with House of Blues or that bad with all the other clubs in Chicago?
JG- Yes its that good with House of Blues and that bad with all the other venues in Chicago. Fireside said they were afraid to have us there because the last time we were there, they were afraid the place would burnt to the ground and they wouldn’t be able to do nothing about it. That was their quote.
BB- I was at that show and nothing happened.
JG- Nothing happened. Nothing. I don’t represent violence. The violence I represent is all of us together fighting everyone else not fighting each other.
BB- The guy that booked the show tonight also does all the shows at Fireside.
JG- Peterson was put on the spot and I respect that he did this. This was the first time he booked a show at the House of Blues. HOB staff wanted us to play, and I was really worried that no one would come to see us play there. The staff said we don’t care we want to see you play, so I respect that very much, and they also made the door $12 which is reasonable. I just really respect that and all the other HOB clubs we’ve played on the Misfits tours and stuff we’ve made a relationship with them. The people treat us really fucking nice man they feed us really good, they put us up they take care of us I can’t give ‘em enough props. It’s a fancy place, but what’s wrong with us all being taken care of. I mean all of us including yourselves. The Bouncers might be harassed but they have insurance regulations, its there job understand? I also appreciate that they put padding on the barricade, which most clubs don’t do, those things are very dangerous. I respect it, you know? Fucking double door won’t let me play because I cursed, I have dirty mouth well fuck you double door.
BB- Recently you’ve been opening up for the Misfits do you prefer opening or headlining your own shows?
JG- I love opening up for other bands. Its no responsibility and I get to hang out and see a show after my show.
BB- What are the chances that you’ll actually be coming to Chicago with Pressure Point this summer?
JG- We’ve been talking back and forth like crazy. We tried to bring em on this trip, but they couldn’t do it. We’re gonna do a tour together. I really try and focus on doing shows with other bands that don’t get as much attention as they should and work together. We all need to work together a lot of the shows; the scenes are taking a beating. Tours like the Warped Tour definitely hurt, hurt our family and our community.
BB- well especially because they only cater to one-half. Last year they had the Business, but there were only forty of us there to see the Business.
JG-That’s also because the Business is signed to Epitaph.
BB- They have greater opportunities?
JG- That’s a whole California mafia thing, that whole tour. They won’t even let us play. We’re not allowed to play, that’s how cool we are.
BB- Kill Your Idols is going to be on the tour this summer they’re from New York.
JG- Its also politics, its all politics.
BB- Is that something that pisses you off?
JG- Oh big time.
BB- I mean twenty years ago did you have to deal with so much politics or would you just call someone up and say, “hey we’re coming to Chicago”?
JG- Exactly, You would book the show for us, and we would do the show. At the end of the day we would settle it out so that everybody, everybody made money and it was all good. Now kids don’t do shows anymore, now promoters do shows, it’s a different thing. Now its all politics, who’s your lawyer, who’s label, who’s your agent, you know it’s really…
BB- You guys have a lawyer and include that information in you liner notes, how much legal shit are you getting into?
JG- I get sued all the time, man I get fucking arrested all the time.
BB- Violence?
JG- Violence, fights.
BB- Violence at your shows unrelated to you and you’d get sued for that?
JG- Yeah, its possible. When they sue somebody they sue everybody.
BB- That’s a bullshit way to run your life.
JG- Yeah, and that’s not our lawyer anymore. We got a new one, but. We’ve also had riots at shows we were in FL and the bouncers attacked me because I was defending the kids, classic tale. But little did the bouncers know that there were Marine Corps boys out there on leave. The bouncer grabbed the mic from me and said, “Where I come from we I deal with combat and I take no survivors.” The Marines jumped up on stage an annihilated the bouncers, and the kids wrecked the club. And I got arrested so I took 5 grand in legal fees otherwise I would have gone to jail for seven years?
BB- With Rap-metal or Nu-Metal being so popular right now are you surprised more NYHC aren’t breaking through, bands like NRSV or more metal influenced NYHC?
JG- I think part of the problem is a lot of the bands in New York didn’t work so well together, as we should have. I think that’s why California so successful, because they all worked together, that’s how the Warped Tour was created that’s how all those labels were created. I think more of what we were doing, was fighting and making music and selling drugs, doing what we do. Living our lives on the street, not living our lives off whatever family and parents and money and things like that. I think that’s why we don’t get much attention, because it’s underground still.
BB- You’ve put twenty years of your life into Murphy’s Law does it piss you off when you see other bands break, and there not as good, etc.
JG- It not about them being good, its about who represents them its once again politics. I would rather have social medicine and be able to cover my bills. I don’t care about success; I mean I’m successful because I have 19 years under my belt.
BB- Do you choose not to be represented or to play the political game, or can you not break into that game?
JG- I would welcome if someone came to me and offered me a lot of money to play Murphy’s Law I would take it. Of course, I’d be a fool not to. But I would also do to the best of my ability to help it along. That’s what hurt the majority of all our scenes; whenever people got successful they didn’t share the wealth. They got involved in the politics, so all the sudden you get all these bands that really don’t fit into our genre. Tonight was cool because it was a cool eclectic mix of bands that also fit around our community, which helps it grow.
BB- Do you guys ever have a set list? I’ve seen you probably eight times and each time you turn to the band or the crowd and ask what they what to play or hear.
JG- We write all the songs down so we know all the songs, but we never follow a set list ever. Never, Never, Never, Never. It also dictates the party vibe, because when someone wants to hear a something we play it and that makes them happy. I love doing it that way; I would never think of doin it any other way.
BB- America Rules is one of my favorite songs.
JG- America Rules? We coulda…
BB-Do you ever get tired of playing those songs, like Secret Agent Skin, “I’ve been playing that song since I was 17 I’m done” for example.
JG- Some of the songs I get sick of, some I won’t sing because I’m just like ah… Some of the songs a to hard for me to sing. But like “Sit Home and Rot” I could never get sick of singing “Sit Home and Rot” I actually love singing that song, really really love singing that song. That’s one of the first songs we got. Also I love singing “Don’t Bother Me” Those are two of my favorite...I enjoy… they feel signing those songs.
HERB- In the interview, In the interview please note that I am now paying Motor for the work he did upstairs.
JG-Nice, Motor’s gettin paid
BB- Do you bring your dog with you everywhere?
JG- Yeah Everywhere I can we just came back from Japan…
HERB- Except here [The Liars Club].
JG- Except here he can’t come here. I wanted to bring him to Japan, but he has to be quarantined for 14 hours, so I just leave him with one of my best friends, he's cared for.
BB- Why don’t you play shit off “The Best of Times,” like “Spliff” or “Did You Play War”?
JG- I kinda hate that record. I like that record, in fact I made more money of that record then any other Murphy’s Law record, probably all the Murphy’s Law records put together.
BB- How is that possible?
JG- Because of ah licensing and it just got more attention for some reason. The fucked up thing is that record wasn’t written… that it was written in the studio. It cost a lot of money to do that record. It was a fuckin mess and to do that record was a nightmare. It wasn’t really representative of what I am or what I wanted to do. Todd Youth was into this funky thing. I really… I'm proud that it was done, because I can’t believe that it happened, but it’s not my favorite record at all. “Dedicated” is my favorite record.
BB- Who did the art for “The Party’s Over” is that the same guy who did the art for “Good for Now”?
JG- Nah, tattoo artist Ron Deholtster???? did the art. It’s a painting.
BB- Is there a poster for that?
JG- Nah. I’m going to try to do a series of silk-screened posters. A friend of mine in Boston does them. So there’s some kids in different scenes that do these posters now. We’re try to get some more art stuff done, which is hard because its expensive man.
BB- You guys are out in support of “The Party’s Over,” you only played “Maximum lie” and “Woke UP, Tied Up,” which is a Beernuts cover, off it why don’t you play more songs like “Vicky Crown” or “Faith”?
JG- We forgot to play “Vicky Crown” tonight. The other songs I just kinda forget. Everybody calls out for all the other songs. We only had 55 minutes. Two nights ago we played two hours, where in Toledo… In Toledo we played two hours.
BB- You didn’t play an encore either, and I can’t really remember you ever playing an encore, why not?
JG- We don’t usually do encores.
BB-You just don’t want to waste the time for two songs?
JG- Yeah well, I just never get the encore. Sometimes in a big show, a big concert you walk off you get a breath of fresh air and you come back out if everybody keeps calling. I never got the encore thing walk off make people beg and then come out again. I’d rather do then leave and leave everybody wanting more.
BB- What’s better Chicago or New York Pizza?
JG- [long pause] New York I gotta say I’m from Queens man and its Sacks pizza in my neighborhood. I like deep dish Chicago pizza, but I’m loyal to Queens’s pizza. I don’t even like Brooklyn pizza, I’m like Queens.
BB- In twenty years any regrets about anything?
JG- That I didn’t focus more on the takin care of business things with the band in the early eighties. Instead of getting fucked up as much as I did I should have focused more on business and helping things along, maybe started a label or something like that. Now I have the shop with Vinnie I’m really lucky and blessed that people still come and see me play, and I get respect. I came from nothing and I still am. I’m a kid from the streets of Queens, alcoholic father, abused mother, you know? I used to shine shoes for money, I lived in the street, I lived in a squat, now I’m in a band I travel with my friends. I go to Japan; I’m very very lucky.
BB- When you’re talking about the business end of things, because you’re the only original member left, are you the sole owner of the name and the music?
JG- We own the whole bit.
BB- When you say we do you mean you personally?
JG- Yeah, Yeah.
Electric Elf- When you say we you mean you.
JG- Yeah me. When we say we, its me. We is me.
Electric Elf- I own 15.2%
John- John Drescher has small holding.
BB- Anything you want to add?
JG- No that was good. If you ever want to get in touch with us we have a website www.hardcorenyc.com and that you very much.
BB- Thanks for taking the time out of you party.
JG-Its you party too bro.
Thanks Again to Jimmy and John and the band for taking the time to talk to me. Thanks to Peterson and the House of Blues for bringing Murphy’s Law to Chicago and thanks to Herb and the staff at the Liar’s Club for letting me use the office and for having a kick ass bar.
