I’m not going to pretend to have been great friends with San Diego’s Mike Down, vocalist for Amenity and guitarist in Forced Down who passed away on Friday, but his unsung impact on the 1990s American Underground runs deep. I bought the first Forced Down seven-inch EP Mike self-released on his own Down Side imprint off of future Born Against and Greyhouse drummer Jon Hiltz in my senior year of high school. Both the look and the sound of it didn’t jive with the standards of Hardcore in 1990. Where were the graceful young men flying through the air with X’s on their hands and a song in their hearts? In place of those familiar images was a package made from textured cardstock tattooed with rubber stamps. Removing the packaging from the polybag, I opened up the fold-over cover to see they made a makeshift gatefold sleeve with the right-hand side stamped with an image of what looked like a decrepit landscape. Underneath, stamped in a stencil of swirled inks, it read “RISE”.
RIP MIKE DOWN/LISTEN TO UNITY/MORE DEATH
RIP MIKE DOWN/LISTEN TO UNITY/MORE DEATH
RIP MIKE DOWN/LISTEN TO UNITY/MORE DEATH
I’m not going to pretend to have been great friends with San Diego’s Mike Down, vocalist for Amenity and guitarist in Forced Down who passed away on Friday, but his unsung impact on the 1990s American Underground runs deep. I bought the first Forced Down seven-inch EP Mike self-released on his own Down Side imprint off of future Born Against and Greyhouse drummer Jon Hiltz in my senior year of high school. Both the look and the sound of it didn’t jive with the standards of Hardcore in 1990. Where were the graceful young men flying through the air with X’s on their hands and a song in their hearts? In place of those familiar images was a package made from textured cardstock tattooed with rubber stamps. Removing the packaging from the polybag, I opened up the fold-over cover to see they made a makeshift gatefold sleeve with the right-hand side stamped with an image of what looked like a decrepit landscape. Underneath, stamped in a stencil of swirled inks, it read “RISE”.