Interviews: Josh from Trustkill Records

Josh of Trustkill Records was nice enough to grant me an interview. He has some interesting opinions, click below for the interview.

Hey Josh, here's some questions when you get the chance:

1) Where did Trustkill come from?

i'll assume you mean the name, and not the label itself. the name is
more or less a word that sounded cool at the time but had its origins
in my distaste for organized religion and how people put too much
faith and trust into it. the name "trustkill" was actually my zine
before it was a label and in the zine i attampted to open people's
eyes to some other viewpoints on religion and some theories or things
they may have not known at the time. also, at the time i came up with
the name, ilistend to seven seconds waaaaay too much and "trust" was
my favorite song, and i killed it. hence, the name.

2) What is your first memory of hardcore?

i have three older sisters, and one of them used to listen to
hardcore way before i even knew what music was. when i was in 6th
grade i sort of got interested into what she was listening to, bands
like bad brains, dead kennedy's and stuff. so she would play them all
for me and i thought it was the coolest thing in the world because i
hadn't heard such aggressive and loud music that didn't take any
shit, you know? of course, i thought it was pretty cool that they
cursed and stuff too, i mean, c'mon, i was in 6th grade, that shit
was cool back then. and then in 7th grade is when i went to my first
show with my best friend and his older brother, it was an Underdog
show in Belmar, NJ. it was totally rad and i was scared shitless to
go anywhere near the pit because i weighed about 65 pounds in 7th
grade, no lie.

3) How do you feel about MP3s and the current Napster insanity?

i'm still wondering how they're still around, honestly. i mean, it is
clearly copyright infringement to provide a forum for people to trade
illegal sound files. i just think the whole thing is getting out of
hand and these companies aren't taking into consideration the hard
work and money that goes into creating the music. even though i run a
record company, i take a very pro-artist approach to this debate. in
fact, i wrote a legal article about the whole thing, it can be viewed here:
(http://www.trustkill.com/pdf/MusicPublishingRightsOnline.pdf)
although it's 27 pages long, i think it's pretty interesting and it
discusses the major point that under u.s. copyright laws, every time
a song is played, streamed, or downloaded on the internet, the artist
is supposed to be paid royalties. of course, with napster, this
doesn't happen. my guess is that metallica and dr. dre are going to
win th ebattle against napster because the riaa (recording industry
of america) has already won these battles against companies like
mp3.com and others.

4) What are you trying to offer to the scene, through Trustkill?

i'm trying to offer people excellent music from kick ass bands. i
want people to go into the store and see a new trustkill cd, and know
right away that it's going to be good, no matter what style of
hardcore/metal/rock it may be. i enjoy working with political bands
because i feel that is the root of hardcore, but i also feel that
there is a special place for bands who can write other kinds of songs
with no political content whatsoever.

5) What can we expect in the future from Trustkill?

lots of good shit. heh heh. new albums by eighteen visions, idle
hands, the great deceiver, nora, and brother's keeper. as well as
whatever new bands i may sign, who knows. but the trustkill roster
right now is keeping the label pretty busy, all the bands are touring
the us, europe, japan, australia, and other places. i'd like to see
the label grow to the point where the band members no longer need to
work and can be self-sustained on the road, that is my goal, we'll
see if i can make it.

6) What is your opinion of Major Labels and Major Label distros?

i see nothing wrong with it. i mean, it's just a company that's
bigger than the indie's, right? i never understood the big "to do"
with the major distributions channels. i mean, isn't "mordam" just as
big as "red" or something? what is the difference? kids are going to
buy the cd's no matter who distributes them or manufactures them, so
who cares? i think the whole "punk rock fantasy" is dead, if people
want to hear music, then they have to be paid for and sitrbuted,
that's all there is to it, end of discussion. i wish kids in
east-bumblefuck arkansas could find my cd's in their local music
store, but they can't, and that sucks.

7) Do you make a distinction between "old school" and "new school" hardcore?
Is Trustkill a new school label?

no, i don't. old school hardcore had its time, and we're past that
now. it's the year 2000, kids are different, the music has gotten
angrier and more aggressive to reflect what's going on in society and
our schools. it's a natural progression and people who won't listen
to a band that put out a record past 1988 are fools and are acting
like their parent that they hate so much. fuck those people, they're
retarded. i'll always throw on an old "chain of strength" record or
"minor threat" album, but i listen to new bands too, if we don't, the
scene will die, end of story.

8) Are you straight edge?

yup.

9) What are you listening to right now?

aaaawwwww man, it's chessy, but i'm listening to the new "eighteen
visions" album. whenever i get one of my new records from the studio,
i beat the piss out of it. i listen to them so much in fact that by
the time the actual record comes out, i don't want to even listen to
it. but this new album is amazing, it is going to knock people on
their ass and take them for a ride.

>10) CDs or Vinyl? Preference?

i am a CD man myself. vinyl is cool, but i'm lazy and hate flipping
them over and stuff. plus, my girlfriend always puts crap on top of
the turntable so i have to clear off 80 pounds of her shit before i
can play a record.

11) Is Christian Hardcore an oxymoron?

i don't think so. if you talk to a christian hardcore kid they think
they're doing something different, so if they believe that they're
walking "against the grain", then that's cool. also, we have too many
fucking depressed people in this world, any means by which a person
can be happier, more power to them, you know? i mean, the company
that makes "prozac" is making a killing, any way we can redirect some
of that money is cool.

12) Who will win the next election?

i think it's going to be perot. in october he is going to pop out of
nowehere and pay off gore and bush and just buy the presidency. it'll
be cool. heh heh.