006: Ron Guardipee

Published On March 19, 2015 | I’VE KNOWN YOU TOO LONG, PODCASTS

It can be argued that Ron is the guy who did most of the heavy lifting in the creation of the Pacific NW Hardcore scene. Dave makes that argument frequently, but finds little to argue about in this lengthy conversation that covers such topics as Ron’s struggle to make it through to graduation without getting kicked out of high school for a final time, a bold haircut decision that lost him a girlfriend but put him on the road to the Straight Edge and being asked to join the band BROTHERHOOD, and the process of selecting the workers that will labor to help you build your Hardcore pyramid.

Follow Ron on Twitter: @dighdown

Follow Nobody’s Nose on Twitter: @NOSEYNOBODY

Most of these conversations will contain shorthand speech and insider info that both parties will be familiar with and won’t necessarily stop to explain for the listener. Whenever possible, Dave will provide some after-the-fact definitions and descriptions. Like your own personal eavesdropping translator.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

BROTHERHOOD: Ron’s 1st Straight Edge hardcore band. Click HERE.

RESOLUTION: Ron’s band right after BROTHERHOOD broke up. Click HERE.

Overkill Records: Ron’s record label. Mainly active in the early to mid 1990s, and currently up and running again.

Fallout: Fallout Records and Skateboards. A Seattle institution. RIP. Click HERE.

FIRST STEP: A late 80s Straight Edge band from Bellingham, WA. Not to be confused with THE FIRST STEP from North Carolina.

REFUSE: An early incarnation of the band that would become UNDERTOW. Not to be confused with REFUSED from Sweden.

ADD ODDS: Dave Larson’s first band. They played covers of MINOR THREAT and THE DRUNK INJUNS and had an original song called “Leave My Chones Alone”.

SLAYER, MOTORHEAD, VENOM: These are metal bands. If you didn’t know that, I commend you for listening to this podcast, and hope that you are enjoying it and learning a lot. Click HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Bob Swift: Sang for THE HELM. Lived with Dave Larson in multiple residences. Coaches runners.

THE HELM: The band Bob Swift sang for. Click HERE.

Gorilla Gardens: A 1980s Seattle, WA live music venue. Click HERE.

SOLGER: Probably the first Seattle Hardcore Punk band. Info HERE.

CELTIC FROST: Metal band from Switzerland. Click HERE.

“Halford-ish voice”: Rob Halford sang for the metal band JUDAS PRIEST. According to wikipedia he is “considered one of the most consistently powerful singers in rock, possessing a wide vocal range, and is particularly known for his trademark high-pitched, operatic, soaring screams.”

C.O.C, D.R.I., BEYOND POSSESSION, DIE KREUZEN: 1980s Punk/Thrash bands: Click HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

EXODUS: Thrash Metal band. Click HERE.

NYC MAYHEM, YOUTH OF TODAY, SSD: 1980s Hardcore bands: Click HERE, HERE, and HERE.

STRAIGHT AHEAD: NYC MAYHEM became this band. Click HERE.

MINOR THREAT: Absolute classic, must-listen-to, band that literally wrote the song “Straight Edge”. LISTEN. WATCH.

DEAD MILKMEN: A “funny” punk band. Their 1st LP “Big Lizard In My Backyard” is a true classic. Click HERE.

CRUCIAL YOUTH: A joke Straight Edge band. Like if Weird Al did parody hardcore songs, but not as good. Click HERE, I guess.

DIDDLY SQUAT: Hardcore from the Tri Cities, WA. Info HERE. Watch HERE.

FALSE LIBERTY: Pre-BROTHERHOOD Seattle Hardcore band. Click HERE.

Community World Theater: A 1980s Tacoma, WA live music venue.

CIRCLE JERKS, 7 SECONDS, METAL CHURCH, RKL: Bands. Click HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

THE ACCUSED: Fairly well known and definitely important Seattle “splattercore” band. Click HERE.

THE DEHUMANIZERS: Band that got locally infamous off the song “Kill Lou Guzzo.” The song tells the story pretty clearly. Click HERE.

Rain Fest: A yearly 3-day Pacific NW Hardcore festival that draws bands from all over the country. Click HERE.

SUBVERT: It seems like the memory of this band has been lost to time. They were GOOD. Click HERE.

Aggression Skates: A small skateboard shop that Dave co-owned with Randy Clark in Bellingham from 1987 to 1989.

CHRIST ON A CRUTCH: A Washington D.C. band who moved out to Seattle and continued with the inclusion of Nate Mendel on Bass. Click HERE.

THE FACTION: The quintessential Skate Rock band. Perhaps you’ve heard them in a car commercial recently? Click HERE.

Rulebook Zine: A quarter-page sized, over the top, joke of a militant Straight Edge zine. A joke not everyone got. If I can find my copy I’ll take some photos and put them below.

THE CRO-MAGS: Classic NYHC. Click HERE.

AGNOSTIC FRONT: Classic NYHC. Click HERE.

Pushead: Quite simply the coolest artist that ever drew a skull or a skateboard. Also sang for the band SEPTIC DEATH. Click HERE.

NOISE FOREST: Volume 7 in Thrasher magazine’s series of compilations.

The Hardcore Hotel: It gets described quite well. A whole bunch of old Seattle Hardcore people get mentioned by name in this section. These names will keep coming up, and hopefully many of them will end up on this show.

DIGH DOWN: A short-lived band made up of Ron, Dave, Mark Holcom and Ryan Murphy from UNDERTOW, and Eric Kinder. Click HERE.

AMENITY: San Diego Hardcore band that pulled Greg Anderson away from BROTHERHOOD, and from Seattle for a time. Click HERE.

Brian Bauer: Was in RESOLUTION as a 2nd singer at the start. Ran a label called SCORCH and later a little bigger one named RX REMEDY. Put out records by AMENITY, RESOLUTION, GALLEONS LAP, and HARRY DEAN STANTON.

Dan Hoerner: Guitarist of RESOLUTION and SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE. Runs a club in Spokane called The Big Dipper. Click HERE.

SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE: This band just straight up got huge. Half the band later went on to form the FOO FIGHTERS. Click HERE.

Lex Spahr: Lex Spahr worked at the Old Firehouse, took pictures of bands, published zines, sang in RIKKI TIKKI TAVI, and had elaborate birthday parties.

KINDER & SOTO: Eric Kinder and Sotirios Rebelos. Seattle area (well, Everett) Hardcore dudes who went on to play in an impressive list of bands. I saw girls fall in love with Eric from just watching him play the drums. Soto now owns BLACK CROWN CAR SERVICE, a Seattle-based town car company.

HARD STANCE Face Reality: Refers to the 1st 7” record released by HARD STANCE. Zach from INSIDE OUT/RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE played on this record. It was very influential on people in the NW scene. Click HERE and HERE.

“We’re the YOUTH OF TODAY, They’re the CRIPPLED YOUTH”: The band BOLD was originally called CRIPPLED YOUTH, and seemed like a kid-brother version of YOT.

TURNING POINT shirts: For whatever reason, this band’s shirts seemed to become a symbol of Hardcore and Straight Edge people going for a more clean cut and less punk rock look. Leather belts and nicer shoes also seemed to seep into this style. This really annoyed some people, but in my opinion at least it was better than that Krishna BS.

Paula Sen: Played in the band WHIPPED, worked at Fallout, put on shows, and released records. An all-around awesome lady.

Curtis Pitts, Sup Pop Employee of the Month: Curtis was a Hardcore guy who went on to an illustrious career working at Sub Pop records. In 1993 the label put out a compilation featuring his picture in the cover called “Curtis W. Pitts: Sub Pop Employee Of The Month“. Click HERE.

JAWBREAKER, BORN AGAINST, RORSCHACH, GO!, BAD TRIP: Touring bands that played at the Party Hall. Click HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

ASPIRIN FEAST, GALLEON’S LAP: Local bands that played at the Party Hall, along with so many others. Click HERE and HERE.

Derek Harn: Moved to Seattle from Utah just in time to be Dave’s roommate for a month in 1992. Played bass in TRIAL and HIMSA. Just happens to work on this very website.

SAIDCHILD: An interesting band that formed in the wake of the short-lived splitting up of UNDERTOW in 1992. Heavy Morrissey influence in their look. Click HERE.

DRY GULCH: A short-lived Seattle band with artist EGO on vocals, Greg Bennick on drums, and our very own Derek Harn on bass. A fella’ named Ward Spring played guitar, and he famously wanted their band logo to be a unicorn jumping over a rainbow with a hard-on. If they had just gone with that idea, I might not have needed to explain who they were to you here.

SEAWEED: Tacoma, WA based melodic punk / grunge band. One of the best. Click HERE.

ORANGE 9mm: Post-BURN band who made some noise in the mid-90s. Click HERE.

“Me, Greg, and Steve”: Ron is referring to Greg Anderson and Steven O’Malley, who later formed SUNN.

BURN: People who love this band, REALLY love this band. Click HERE.

QUICKSAND: Just WATCH.

CIV: If you ever loved GORILLA BISCUITS and wished they had released more material, CIV might of made you think you were getting your wish for a minute in the mid-90s. Click HERE.

BIOHAZARD: NY Metal/Punk/Thrash/Hardcore… uh… Wikipedia also says “groove metal” and “rap metal”. Click HERE.

SICK OF IT ALL: Much loved, long running New York Hardcore band. Click HERE.

THE JIM ROSE FREAK SHOW: These guys became known all over the world, but there was a time that they felt like our own little local disgusting secret. Click HERE.

BROTHERHOOD:

RESOLUTION:

HATEFUL YOUTH:

DIGH DOWN:

A selection of Ron’s Zines:

The infamous top 10 list:

FLYERS:

Hangin’ with the ’TOW:

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE EDGE:

THIS IS WHERE TO GO FOR THAT HOT SAUCE.

I’VE KNOWN YOU TOO LONG

David Larson is a screenwriter from the Seattle area who ran an independent record label called EXCURSION for many years. Over the course of the last three decades, Dave has formed friendships with a large number of people who have made an artistic impact, mostly in the world of Punk Rock and Hardcore music. Many of these people have gone on to greater and more varied adventures in the worlds of art, film, music, politics, and activism. In this podcast, Dave uses the timeline of their first meeting to explore back and forth through their histories to try and gain a better understanding of how they came to be the people they are today.

They say history is written by the conquerors, and while none of these campaigns are complete yet, it is time to get some of these tales nailed down before they are lost to time and age.

Check out Dave’s episode of the WORD ON THE STREET podcast HERE.

Check out Dave and Ron Guardipee’s episode of the EDGELAND podcast HERE.

DIG THAT INTRO MUSIC?

That’s Polymorph, a project by my friend Bryar Herrick. He has a ton of stuff you can check out here:

https://polymorph.bandcamp.com/