FROM THE COMMON SENSE ARCHIVES: Chain of Strength Interview From 1989!!!
This interview with Ryan Hoffman and Chris Bratton from Chain of Strength was conducted in the fall of 1989 for Common Sense, a fanzine I did with Tim McMahon (Mouthpiece, Hands Tied, etc) This is the first time the interview has been seen since we published the ‘zine back in the summer of 1990. I really tried to clean up the grammar of my sixteen-year-old moron self, but there still might be some wandering around in there. Please forgive me - TR
Tony Rettman: How did the guys in Chain of Strength get to know each other?
Ryan Hoffman: Chris and I were in a band called Justice League and they were losing their hardcore style. With all the member changes came musical changes. So, I knew Frosty and Chris met Alex and it just happened.
Does it feel different playing in Chain when the later Justice League stuff was more melodic and poppy?
To a point, but I like them both. I’m into all different styles of music, so it feels the same to me. I’m into everything I do. But it’s definitely a different crowd reaction.
Are there any hard feelings between you and the other ex-members of Justice League.
No, not really. They (Pollen Art) played here last night and I went to go see them and it was cool. But they don’t support us because they think we’re lame for still liking hardcore. A lot of our songs are about them. I guess everyone thinks our songs are typical, but we sing what we feel. There’s a lot of tensions between us and them because they think hardcore is lame and they’ve grown out of it. But we support them even though they think we’re stupid.
Was there a Chain of Strength demo before the seven-inch?
Yeah, but it became the seven-inch just re-mixed. Ray and Porcell and a lot of people were totally into doing it. Schism wanted to do it and then Revelation wanted to do it. What we wanted to do was make a full-length, but everyone talked us out of it, so we just decided to do the seven-inch. We’ve changed a lot, it’s been a year since it came out. I mean, we haven’t changed drastically. Our songs are just a little more creative now. I mean, Alex had only been playing bass for a year then. He’s totally improved now.
Has Kevin Seconds heard the song “Let Down” yet?
He really didn’t know too much about it when I talked to him. I just asked him what the deal was with that song “Seven Years” and he told me this totally different story then what I related it to. I felt kinda lame afterward. I thought the song meant, “It took us seven years to finally drop hardcore” and he said, “No, it means we’ve been playing hardcore for seven years and we’re sick of the violence” and I told them it came off more like the past seven years haven’t been worth it.
Is the song “True Till Death” related to anyone directly?
Our songs are weird because they always start out talking about something else. “True Till Death” was about SSD and bands that totally lost the edge. At first, they were totally about their lyrics, and then in the Schism interview, Al said, “No, it was always about the music”. So, I wrote something about that and then Curtis got into it to put his two cents in since he has to sing it. So, that’s why our songs are so weird. I’ll write them and then Curtis puts his two cents in and they become pretty weird.
Explain the lyrics to “Just How Much”.
Chris Bratton: That song is about my own personal interpretation of straight edge. What inspired that song was going to see Bl’ast! when they were smoking pot on stage and fried on acid. I was shocked because they used to wear X’s on their hands. (It is at this point someone in the background argues with Chris on whether or not Bl’ast! was ever a straight edge band) Come on, man! Remember that show in Sun Valley when Cliff had an X on his hand. They were on Wishingwell, man! They had to be edge! I’m kidding of course! But what I was trying to say is straight edge is what it means to you. Make your own explanation. Don’t have others hand you the rulebook of straight edge.
What’s the deal with the matrix on your seven-inch?
On the first side it says, “Can we play two songs?” and on the other side it says “No Is Your Answer”. So, when we first came out to the east coast, we played practically every show with No For An Answer and sometimes we weren’t on the bill and we’d be like, “Let us play two songs, that’s it!” and after we’d play two songs, Dan O’Mahoney would be like, “OK, that’s it! Get off!” So, we thought we’d slam him with the matrix deal. He felt pretty stupid when he saw it.
What does Dan O’Mahoney have against you guys?
He’s totally into the band competition thing. He’s way into that.
Do you guys get good responses out on the west coast?
No. There’s this little conspiracy to hold us back on the west coast. People are very slow when it comes to giving us any kind of credit or support.
Why’s this?
I have no idea. Maybe because we won’t kiss ass.
Why don’t you guys play California a lot?
All the promoters won’t give us shows. They give them all to Insted or No For An Answer.
Does that make you sick?
We’ve spoken many times to these bands about this. We’d be like, “Why don’t you give up some shows?” and they’d be like, “Uh, no!”. You can’t expect them to give up the money they’re making at every show. We just got to let the promoters in California know there are more than two bands out here.
There have been rumors that you guys drink.
Well, as far as straight edge goes, Frosty is not straight edge. So, if people see him drinking a beer they shouldn’t hassle him. He’s just totally into hardcore and been around since ‘81. So he can tell these new kids something. As far as drinking none of us drink except Frosty. Curtis has a beer if he's thirsty but he’s not into getting drunk. So, it’s no biggie. But that all goes into what your personal interpretation of straight edge is.
What do you think of all the new straight-edge kids who push so hard to show they have the straight edge?
Well, what it is is they’ve never seen the old-style straight edge with Dischord. All they know is Ray Cappos’ handbook on straight-edge. You’ve got to expect kids to go for it since so many bands today are writing stupid lyrics and if that’s all the kids are listening to, then, of course, they’be gonna be narrow-minded.
What do you think of straight edge kids who only listen to straight edge bands?
I think it sucks. I don’t know how true it exists with some kids, but I know it’s out there. There are lots of close-minded kids, but there’s plenty of open-minded kids. So it’s hard to say which ones are blowing it and which ones aren’t.
What do you think of bands that tag themselves straight edge hardcore? Do you think they’re trying to separate themselves from the rest of the hardcore scene?
Well, it’s because at first there was a lot of bad hardcore coming out. Either it was metal or joke-core. So it was just a little tag you could use, but it has gotten out of hand.
Is it true the pictures on the True Till Death seven-inch were posed?
No, not at all. We set up the show specifically to take pictures, but we did not pose for them. There’s a studio you can rent out here for practice and what we did was just have a big, open practice and what we brought in a photographer and we went off and played two sets.
Final Comments?
Thanks to Tim and Dennis Boiling Point, Randy Travers, Zero Tolerance dudes, and Mike Madrid because everybody hates him. Dude, have common sense. Everyone should have common sense. Change your five for common sense. Pretty witty, huh?
