1.Introduce yourself and your position in the NYC underground music scene.
Russ Lethal and I’m the owner of Lethal CDs. I guess my position in the scene is ankles over ears y’know.
2.Why the change in the store name?
The name was changed to reflect the main direction of the store. When we started we were the source for underground tees. The focus has shifted now to a more music-oriented selection. We still have the best selection of tee’s but now we also have the best selection of underground and extreme music CD’s and LP’s in the City.
3.Please elaborate on Lethal Zone Productions?
Well, Lethal Zone is a booking agency started by myself and my indefatigable partner Taz. As I recall, Endemoniada was there at the beginning and you helped us stage our first show, which was DARK FUNERAL. It was started to try to breathe some life into the metal scene. Since the closing of L’Amours in Brooklyn the metal scene in NY has really been kind of directionless. So Taz, who is the passion behind the thing and I have been putting some shows in the NY area at THE BANK. We’ve put some great shows together and we hope to do some more as the opportunities present themselves.
4.Is it hard to get merchandise from labels? Which is the hardest band or type of music to get?
The most difficult thing about getting CD’s is really just tracking them down. There are a bunch of small distributors that bring a lot of the music. The trick is finding whose got what and getting it in stock. There isn’t nay easy way to do it. You have to look at all the lists and order from as many of the distributors as you can. It’s a lot of work but well worth it. There really isn’t anything that’s harder to get than anything else, what is hard to get is what I can’t get. The most difficult merchandise to get are the tour shirts. When I can get them they’re imported and expensive. They’re a bitch, but we’re trying y’know.
5.As you know well, Endemoniada has had difficulty in the part with a certain store in the west village (B.B.) and was banned from there due to a contentious interview. A store you left because…?
Damn, you’ve been in the store, wouldn’t anybody leave. Man, this S.O.B. keeps comin’ up let me tell ya. It’s like the book ‘the Hunchback of Notre Dame’. In the beginning you’re just completely repulsed by the creature, in the end you just feel sorry for him. Of course, at the end, I just want to beat his hunchback face in. But that’s another story.
6.What would you like to see happen to this fat ass muthafucka? Anything we can do??
Well, what I really would like to see are the extreme music buyers shopping somewhere else. Like, my store. Nah, it’s jut he used to be the only metal store in NY, and you had to put up with his bullshit and abuse, his high prices and his disrespect. Don’t patronize someone you know is shitting on you. Stand up and say FUCK YOU. I AIN’T GONNA TAKE YOUR SHIT NO MORE!!! Yeah, you can do something for me, make sure the dickhead reads this and pops a vein in his head.
7.I’ve heard that when you book shows you stick to the contract, even if the profits are not what you expected. You dish out the money from your own pocket. Why?
Well, when Taz and I started, we decided that when you agree to pay someone a set amount and the band drives a few hundred miles to the gig on your word of payment, it’s our obligation to honor our words. The profits are never what we expect. If a show breaks even that’s a successful show. The only band that took less then we promised was MORTAL DECAY. We took a beating financially on the show and those guys cut us some slack as a favor. Lethal Zone says THANKS! It comes out of our pockets because it’s got to come from somewhere. Why? Because we give our word. I also give back to the scene that supports my store. It’s the least I can do right?
