Issue 4

Updates on Issue 4!

Issue 4 comes out April 1!

So far we have articles with:

Trapped Under Ice

Hope Conspiracy

Title Fight

Creatures

Rotting Out

Forfeit

Lewd Acts

Emily Ellis of Valentine

and we're currently working on articles from:

Adam Green (Director of Hatchet and Frozen)

Heart Eyes

Gone But Not Forgotten

Minus

The Birthday Boys

Stuff for Issue 5 is also underway! Announcing Marta (Bleeding Through) as Issue 5 centerfold!

More to come! Make sure to check out Issue 3: magcloud.com/browse/Magazine/43562

Zombieland Review

By: Ama Reeves

"While other monsters clamor for attention with capes and claws and bandages, the zombie has embedded itself into our consciousness with little more than a stumble and a moan. Metaphorically, this classic creature embodies a number of our greatest fears. Most obviously, it is our own death, personified. The physical manifestation of that thing we fear the most. More subtly, the zombie represents a number of our deeper insecurities. The fear that deep down we may be little more than animals, concerned only with appetite. Zombies can represent the threat of collectivism against individuality. The notion that we might be swallowed up and forgotten, our special-ness devoured by the crowd.

Oddly those rotten bastards also give us hope. The undead maybe tenacious, single minded and relentless as lava, but they are also stupid and slow; ineffectual and inept. You don't have to be Van Helsing, or even Peter Venkman to throw down with a zombie. Anyone with a pulse can ste up. As long as you keep your head, defeating a zombie is not an insurmountable task. You don't need spells, or stakes, or silver bullets, you just need your wits and a weapon. A gun is good, but most blunt objects will do, things we might have around the house or garden. It is perhaps this combination of hope in the face of terror, that makes the zombie so attractive to us. The idea that we could ourselves, beat death. Beat it until it's brains come out it's ears."

-Simon Pegg from Shaun of the Dead

When I first read this quote by Simon Pegg in the back of a Walking Dead graphic novel it stuck with me. What could be more true and relevant to our obsession with zombies. Anyone can be the hero in a zombie flick and this is the sentiment that Ruben Fleischer was banking on when making Zombieland.

The cast was solid, even though I've never been a fan of Jesse Eisenberg (in this writer's opinion the poor man's Michael Cera) I did feel he played the part of the neurotic, nerdy underdog to the fullest. Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin were phenomenal as gun slinging sisters and completely believable as post zombie apocalypse survivors. Of course, a great film for Woody Harrelson, rarely depicted as an action hero but it suited him well. I think on top of individual performances the ensemble, which had a majority of the dialog for the entire film worked will together and the chemistry was incredibly believable.

The zombies looked great throughout the film and something I personally loved is the individuality of the zombies- housewife zombies, little girl tea party zombies, farmer zombies, etc. No mass of the unidentifiable dead for Zombieland. No sir! The make up was understated for the most part but not terrible. I believe most fans of the genre will be pretty okay with this.

As for the story of Zombieland, don't go in expecting a horror film, you will be disappointed. This film is more in the vein of Shaun of the Dead, with silly deaths, characters with "rules" for beating the undead, and great bad ass one-liners. On top of it being a film about survival it's also about people coming together and creating new bonds after the rest of the world is dead and gone, well... kinda.

I highly suggest running out and seeing this film. If you hate it, it's only a whopping 1:20 mins.

Inhuman

Article by Ama Reeves

Invasion: What is your role in Inhuman?

Mike: I am the lead singer/lyricist and founding member of the band, along with our guitarist Nick, who was actually the drummer for Inhuman when we started in 1995. I also book most of the shows and semi-manage the band as well.

Inv: This band has a long history. Can you give us a brief summary?

Mike: Inhuman started in the early summer of 1995 and it is now the fall of 2009 and we are still here. No breakups, no sellouts, no reunions and no bullshit. Our guitarist Joseph James has been with the band since 1997, our bassist Hank since 2000 and drummer Steve since 2006. Although Steve was in Inhuman from 2001 - 2003, he re-joined us in 2006. We added Nick as a 2nd guitarist in March of 2008 and we have been a 5 piece ever since.

We have put out 4 full length cds and one cdep, all on different labels, with the last being on I Scream Records with our best release to date "Last Rites", which came out in October 2007 in the USA and January 2008 in Europe.

Inv: Thats awesome. Can you tell us a little about I Scream Records for people out there who aren't familiar with them?

Mike: Well, I Scream is a label that started in Europe, Belgium to be exact in like 1994. But 3 yrs ago they opened up a US office which is now based in NY. I really don't want to shit talk, but I will say that we are no longer on the label and that is for the best scenario for us. We didn't feel that "Last Rites" was pushed at all and it was an unfortunate situation since we feel it is our best record to date and deserves to be heard. We hope to find a new label to call home soon.

Inv: What kind of line up changes of come about over the years?

Mike: We have had a few, mainly drummers since they are so hard to keep in any band it seems because most of them are usually in 3 other band or are insane, or both! But the core of the band, being myself, Joe and Hank, have been doing this for nearly 10 yrs straight on. Over the past 14 years as a band, I will say that every lineup change we have had has been for the better, so it's not that big of a deal. It's been the same vocals and the same people writing the songs for the last 2 or 3 records.

Inv: You are synonymous with New York hardcore.. how do your reactions fare outside the city?

Mike: Sometimes better than NY, sometimes not so much. Lateley we have done quite well when traveling outside of NYC which is great. NYC is a strange place sometimes. You have a good chunk of the crowd at a show in bands themselves or you have kids who don't think it is cool to move up front or dance, but then you have kids who love you and see at every show and those are the ones I play for. I do this for them and for my own selfish reasons I guess becuase I still love playing Hardcore.

Inv: What are some of the places you've been travelling to recently? What bands have you been playing with?

Mike: We played a cool festival in RI called the "Built To Last Fest" with some great bands like Wisdom in Chains, Madball, Strenth For A Reason and many others. Over the summer we did a sold out show in NYC with Sick of It All, Bane and Capital @ the Blender Theatre which will go down as one of our best shows ever in NYC. We have been to Europe, Canada the East Coast and the West Coast, but it has been a long time and we are dying to play out more again. It gets a bit hard with Joe's Agnostic Front schedle sometimes (Inhuman guitarist Joseph James has also been in Agnostic Front for 4 years) but we work it out.

Inv: You've often been referred to as a "compilation band" but over the years you've secured several releases. Do you think you've gotten out from under that title?

Mike: Actually, I think one review said that, which is odd because the last compilation Inhuman was on may have been about a decade ago. As a matter of fact, we would love to be on more compilations. So any labels reading this, do get in touch, ha. Being on a good compilation can get a band some nice exposure so it's not a bad thing. Not sure why anyone who knew the band would say that, but such is life.

Inv: Right now NYHC is at an all time high in popularity in the hardcore scene. I see Merauder shirts going for hundreds of dollars on ebay. ha ha. Has this caused an influx of new fans?

Mike: Since "Last Rites" came out, we have got a lot of new fans and for that I am thrilled. As far as NYHC being at an all time high...I beg to differ. Being from Mass or Long Island or even Cali is "cooler" than NYC these days. Some of the really good labels arent even looking at NYC bands and that is a shame. As far as Merauder goes, they are great friends of mine and I had the honor of being on the bands new cd "God Is I", where I co -wrote and song on the track "Built on Blood". I want anyone and everyone reading this to get the new Merauder cd, it is their best since "Master Killer" or maybe even better than that one! I grew up with Merauder and I am happy to see them put out a new cd after so long. RIP to my brother SOB

Inv: Oh trust me! Your time is coming. Bands out here in California like Downpresser and Ruckus are really striving to emulate the NYHC sound and with a label like Reaper it's only a matter of time before NYC actually realizes it's a cool kid again ha ha. Was working on the Merauder record a challenge since they're coming from a new writing standpoint?

Mike: It was an honor to work on that track for the new Merauder record. I have known Jorge since 1988/1989 and was at Merauder's second show ever in 1990, when Minus was the singer. Being from Brooklyn, back then I had a band called Confusion ( I was the bassist) and Confusion and Merauder did countless shows together in the early 90's. The track "Built on Blood" was just about done as far as the lyrics went but all of the music was done and when I heard the song I was blown away! I wrote my part right there in the studio, after Jorge gave me the scoop on what the song was about and what he wanted to say in it. I really like how both or our voices mix together, very hard and brutal. It was a lot of fun and I'd love to work with more bands in the future if ever asked.

Inv: Your current art work is awesome! Who's the artist?

Mike: Thanks for noticing! All Inhuman artwork, t-shirts and flyers are done by our bassist Hank and he does a great job every time! He did the layouts and covers for "Last Rites", "The New Nightmare" and "Black Reign" as well as our shirst for the last 8 yrs or so and many flyers. Hank may be doing work for other bands soon, so check out our myspace or facebook pages for info on that.

Inv: There is a slight horror vibe to your music, is this intentional?

Mike: I am a huge horror fan with several hundred horror and exploitation dvds. Although we are a Hardcore band, I don't think we should be limited to writing about the Hardcore scene or society or feeling etc. Sometimes I am as moved by a film as I am by something that happens in real life so I almost feel compelled to write about it. On the "Last Rites" cd there is a song called "Grindhouse" which is not about the film from 2007, but about Times Square in NYC in the from the late 60's to the early 90's where they showed some of the sickest movies ever made on the big screen. It was also inspired by a book about the Times Square moviehoueses called "Sleazoid Express" which I highly recomed for anyone interested in film or NYC history.

Inv: I'm a big fan of horror myself. We could probably do a whole interview just about that ha ha. What are some of your favorite films? Do you still love Dario Argento in 2009?

Mike: Hmmm..something says to me that you too hated "Mother of Tears" as well perhaps? Well, yes I am still a huge fan of Dario Argento in 2009. So much so that I spent nearly $50 to get to meet him and have him sign a few dvds sleeves this past June @ the Fangoria Convention in NYC. This was the 2nd time I met him actually, the first was in 1999 @ yes, the Fangoria Convention as well! Only back then I cut a huge line and paid nothing to have him sign a "Demons" vhs sleeve, which is now also signed by Lamberto Bava and framed on my wall at home. Here are my all time top 20 horror favorites in semi-order: 1. The Shining 2. The Exorcist 3. Suspiria 4. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper) 5. Halloween (Carpenter)6. The Beyond (Fulci) 7. Hellraiser 8. Phantasm 9. The Thing (Carpenter) 10. Cannibal Holocaust 11. Tenebre 12. Deep Red 13. Audition 14. Last House on The Left 15. Bram Stoker's Dracula 16. Dawn of the Dead (Romero) 17. Maniac 18. Last House on Dead End Street 19. An American Werewolf in London 20. Nightbreed

Inv: Ha ha, yes Mother of Tear's was a terrible film and a let down to the Triology, so what do you have coming up? Shows? New Albums? Tours?

Mike: We are in the process of writing a new record and finding a new record label for Inhuman to call home as we are no longer with I Scream.

We are always playing around the Northeast and hope to get out West once a new cd comes out, which should be in 2010 sometime.

Check out our websites www.myspace.com/inhuman, www.facebook.com/inhuman and www.inhumanlegion.com to see what we are up to.

Thanks a lot for the interview and thanks to all who support the Cult of Inhuman.

Good Clean Fun THE MOVIE!

Interview by Ama Reeves

Hardcore is serious business. It's about how hard you mosh, what you've done for animal rights, and how straight you draw your X's. Just ask Issa Diao, vocalist for Good Clean Fun and the director of Good Clean Fun The Movie. If you are too young to remember the antagonists of hardcore, Good Clean Fun brought a new spin to the late 90s with songs poking fun at people who take hardcore far too seriously, X'd up teddy bears, and songs girls could mosh to. Many have tried to do it since (just think ISHC), and many will try to do it after but no one "saves the scene from forces of evil" like Issa Diao and Good Clean Fun. Now he's taking his creativity and channeling the ghosts of John Hughes and Kevin Smith's discarded elastic waist pants to create a teen romance for our generation.

So Good Clean Fun The Movie. How did this idea come to be?

It is hard to recall exactly, but I think the idea started being thrown around back in 2000. There was no plot idea yet, except we knew that the band should be in it as little as possible since we are terrible actors.

What went into the making of this film?

Everything. I cannot even begin to describe how much work it was. It sort of reminded me of the first day of tour…there are a hundred things to coordinate, you have to figure out how to fit everything in the van, everyone has to be somewhere at a certain time, unforeseen problems arise everywhere, the drummer forgot to bring sticks, and everything is always behind schedule. But shooting the movie felt like that every day!

You wrote and directed right? Is this your first feature? Is film making something that has always appealed to you?

This was not only my first feature, but it was my first anything. My previous experience with film involved making the video for The MySpace Song. I’ve always been a huge fan of film… so much so that my daughter is named Ferris… it would be fair to say that my childhood was defined by movies more than anything else (except maybe music which explains why I saw Footloose so many times in the theaters!).

Living in LA, I know a lot of people slaving away in the film industry. From what I understand, making films costs a lot of money. How did you guys raise funds?

The movie ended up costing a lot more money that I initially thought it would. The words “complete financial disaster” come to mind. Two investors backed out the first week of shooting, and that caused a lot of problems. By the time we were done, I was broke and I owed just about everyone I knew money. A guy who had really helped me out in the beginning ended up getting stuck with a pretty big bill, and I’ve been slowly paying him back…it sucked, because it completely ruined our friendship. But I’m pretty confident that it should break even…I don’t mind eating a loss myself (I had the time of my life and would never consider it a “loss” no matter what!) but I’m very anxious to make sure everyone who contributed gets reimbursed. For the most part, the people who paid for this to happen were just friends who believed in the project. It was really amazing.

Thats all that matters at the end of the day. I believe I once heard Kevin Smith had to sell all his comics to make Clerks.

I hadn’t heard that. That’s hilarious, because I’ve been trying to sell mine to help pay for this movie. It’s been hard to find anyone buying recently though. If anyone reading this wants to pick up about 2,500 comics (mostly Marvel from the 70s and 80s) drop me a line!

Are the members of the cast friends or hired actors?

There is a mix of both. The two main characters are professional actors, and I hired Bronson Pinchot (True Romance, Beverly Hills Cop, Perfect Strangers) to play a role. But the rest of the cast is a mix of friends and actors who are just starting out in their careers. A lot of musician friends were in the movie, and they made it a lot of fun. You will definitely see a lot of familiar faces.

Oh Wow! How did you happen to get him to play a role? Rumor is you had asked Henry Rollins to play a role. What ever happened to that?

I wrote the script with the idea of getting someone famous to play the school Dean. My first choice was Ian MacKaye. I have no idea if he can act, but it would have been pretty cool. Ian said no, but suggested Henry Rollins for the part. Henry also said no. So I put out a casting call for a “name actor” and got some interesting responses from agents. The short list included Dustin “Screech” Diamond, Gary Busey, Vanilla Ice, and Jerry Mathers (Leave it to Beaver). I was flirting with the idea of spending more money and trying to get Joey McIntyre (NKOTB, Boston Public), but then I got a call from Bronson’s agent, and I instantly knew I had my guy. Bronson had perfect comedic timing and could play it with just the right amount of smugness.

What's the plot? Should we be expecting something epically ground shattering to hardcore? ha ha

The easiest and most accurate way to describe the movie to hardcore kids is this:

“Good Clean Fun the movie rips off John Hughes the way that Good Clean Fun the band rips off Gorilla Biscuits”.

The plot will not be unfamiliar to anyone who has seen the classic 80s movies that I grew up on. There is a girl in love with her best friend, a college dean who is her arch-nemesis, and a band who aren’t quite what they seem.

So a mix of The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles?

Both those movies are much better than mine! But I think Good Clean Fun compares decently to “Some Kind Of Wonderful”, which I am very happy with!

A little off topic- but how did you feel about the recent passing of John Hughes?

It was actually pretty devastating. Just to give you an idea of how much his movies meant to my childhood (and my adulthood), my daughter’s name is Ferris. I had a daydream fantasy of someday getting to meet John and introducing her. John Hughes is definitely at the top of my list for both writers and directors that I aspire to be like. James Cameron, Cameron Crowe and Ivan Reitman round out the list. It always amazes me that those 4 people fill so many spots on my favorite all-time movie lists.

What kind of reaction have you received so far?

The overwhelming reaction from the people who have seen the final product has been “it’s like a real movie”. I guess when someone says “I’m going to make a movie” you expect something that looks like it was filmed on a video camera and edited in iMovie. This was shot on actual film, and if you were flipping through the channels, it would fit right in with any other movie you’ve ever seen. That is definitely a big surprise to people.

Will there be a sequel?

Haha…I’ve actually got my next 4 movies mapped out. If all goes according to plan, movie number 5 will be a GCF sequel. I really liked how Kevin Smith took his time getting back to Clerks. I would have been sad if he had made Clerks 2 instead of Mallrats, or his next few movies.

Making a GCF movie was very restricting (for lack of a better word). There were certain guidelines that I just had to follow to make it fit with the band. This isn’t a bad thing…I think I came up with a film that strikes the perfect chord for the band…but it will be fun to make my next movie without having to fit that mold.

So this is something that you are going to actively persue? Are you thinking total career change?

Definitely. When people ask what I do for a living, I tell them I’m a director. And I can usually keep a straight face for 3 or 4 seconds before I add “aspiring”.

It seems that you have alot of the same influences as Kevin Smith. Is he also someone that really inspires you? I've heard he's pretty easy

I am definitely a big fan of Kevin Smith. One of the things I like so much about his movies is the way the dialog flows. Clerks was definitely a benchmark in my head for a lot of things about this production…it was a great example of a good script overcoming financial and acting shortfalls. There were a few scenes in Clerks where you just could tell that Randall was reading his lines. Haha…it is actually part of the movie’s charm. In Good Clean Fun, the lead performances are really strong and that makes up for the few lines delivered by non-actors that could have been better with more time and money. I think it is another situation where the strong story makes up for any shortcomings.

As far as Good Clean Fun goes as a band, will their be more tours to promote the movie?

We are figuring out exactly what we will be doing for 2010, but we will definitely be doing something.

From what I've been told, and correct me if I'm wrong but GCF was formed in order to poke fun at the serious and "tough" image that hardcore portrayed in the late 90s. That being said even though you're fueled with sarcasm and humor, you actually practice what you preach, right? You're a practicing vegan and you're straight edge right

I’ve been vegan for over 15 years now and straightedge my whole life. That is a pretty accurate description of why GCF formed but there is a bit more personal story to it. I’d ALWAYS wanted to be in a hardcore band. And since the time I was 15 I had been in one or another---and they were all terrible. The biggest problem was that I didn’t have anything new to say. What made Minor Threat or Youth of Today or Earth Crisis such great bands is that they took the scene that we were used to and moved it in a new direction. I’ll be the first to admit that I had no such illusions about any of my projects. But with the concept of GCF, I got to say the same things that had been said before, but say them in a new way. For instance, a lot of kids were turned off to animal rights by Earth Crisis’ militant attitude, but were willing to listen to our “funny” take on why they should be vegan. At the end of the day, it certainly isn’t groundbreaking, but it gets the job of spreading the message done, and I’m happy with that.

How do you feel when kids take you super seriously?

There have been people who haven’t quite realized that we’re joking about certain things. My personal favorite was when Maximum Rock-N-Roll criticized us for “not being punk” because we had Legal Representation listed on our album cover. Of course, if you read the name of the law firm, you might realize that it was a joke: Chandler, McNamara and Duke. Granted, if you haven’t seen Heathers, it might not be the best joke. But anyone with half a brain should have known that GCF did not have legal representation!

Oh! I completely forgot about that! I had to work at Daniel Waters' house once! If it ever happens again I'm going to bring it to show him! Ha ha

Awesome. And tell him I am a huge fan of Demolition Man! A totally underrated story!

How do you respond to negative criticism from people who just don't "get it"?

I generally find negative criticism to be pretty entertaining. GCF was one of those bands who were instantly “cool”. And then, a little later, we were just as instantly “uncool”. It was hilarious. But, trendiness aside, there are a lot of people who take themselves (and hardcore) way too seriously. The trick with GCF is that we poke fun of everyone, ourselves most of all. What matters to me is that some people “get it” and that makes it all worthwhile.

You've said several times that you've accomplished what you set out to do with Good Clean Fun, and yet you've recorded more albums. Did you find more fuel for the fire or boredom, or has it just people pressing for new records?

The entire “Between Christian Rock and a Hard Place” record came about when I played some old Fugazi for a young emo friend of mine and she said “what is this? It sounds like Bear vs. Shark”? This is a true story.

But seriously, the decision to do another record after the band had pretty much achieved its goals was a pretty easy one. I had some songs written, and I had enough free time to do a few tours.

Let's talk about the Myspace Song and Video. I heard a rumor you actually met your wife on myspace. ha ha. Confirm or deny?

Confirmed. We started talking on MySpace, met a week later, and got married 6 weeks after that. Love at first site.

Wow! That's pretty amazing. So did the song derive inspiration from that or is just a coincidence?

Actually, the song was written six months before we met. Total coincidence. And it wasn’t even released yet when we met, so she had never heard it. It was like secret irony.

I know you teamed up with Joseph Pattisall of Wraith Films to create the video. Was this something that inspired you for more film projects?

Joseph and his partner Daryl Pittman were very inspiring for the movie. Joseph was originally going to co-direct it with me, but couldn’t make it work schedule-wise, and Daryl was actually the Director of Photography---the guy who makes it all look good!

It looks great! Did they have any input on the GCF Movie?

Daryl helped me through some first time director mistakes…simple things like “if we move this shot indoors it will look a lot better”. Or, “don’t touch that, it’s hot”. Mostly the first one.

More importantly, did Tom ever see it and if so what was his reaction?

I’ve heard he “liked it” but cannot officially confirm that he ever saw it.

So after this mountain of a project what's next- with the band, you, and other projects?

I’ve actually already begun working on my next movie. All I can tell you is that it is a superhero film. My goal is to have the screenplay written by the end of 2009 and film it in 2010. I have definitely fallen in love with making movies!

Get more information on ordering Good Clean Fun The Movie at http://www.posihq.com/

Ceremony

Photos by: Brandon Tridle

San Diego at the Che Cafe

Lewd Acts and Hour of the Wolf Photos

Photos by: Brandon Tridle

Shot at the Che in San Diego

LEWD ACTS

HOUR OF THE WOLF