D.C. natives Magrudergrind have been pummeling their brand of grindcore across the globe since forming in 2002. However, the trio are about to embark on a tour through more familiar haunts, up and down the East Coast, alongside Despise You. Right before heading out on the road, frontman Avi Kulawy spoke to Revolver about the tour, how the D.C. music scene has changed, and their passion for street art.
REVOLVER You’ve recently done a bunch of shows over in Europe. What are you looking forward to most about touring the East Coast again?
AVI KULAWY Seeing all our friends up and down the coast. We haven’t played Florida in years and I’m really excited for this. Stoked to hit up the beach down there and also stoked to eat some good Carolina BBQ.
What should people expect at your upcoming shows with Despise You?
Expect it to be rowdy. The “grind entourage” is gonna bring the brutality in the form of noise and party.
You will be playing with a lot of other cool bands at various dates. What bands are you looking forward to playing with most and why?
There are so many… I’m really eager to play with Floor and Suppression in their respective hometowns, Florida and Richmond. Getting the chance to see these bands jam in the home-turf is going to be epic. We’re also playing with a bunch of our friend’s bands including Shitstorm, Defeatist, Asshole Parade, Backslider, Cannabis Corpse, Callous, Primate, Cellgraft, Man Will Destroy Himself, Draize, etc. Looking forward to seeing all of them.
Are you working on any new music?
We’re writing new material for our next full-length record. It’s coming along relatively slow, but moving forward nonetheless. Since I moved to Brooklyn and we all picked up concentrating on the other parts of lives when we’re not touring, writing has become somewhat complicated. That said, we’re hoping to further marginalize ourselves with it sometime in 2012.
Since you’re back in a home mindset, how have you seen D.C. change—musically or otherwise—since you started up?
As I previously mentioned, Brooklyn is my home now. But that makes this question more relevant because when I go back to D.C. I can track the changes more so than others who live there though. Aside from the endless supply of straightedge hardcore bands and false activism, the scene is changing as a result of the venue supplies diminishing. The D.C. area is about to lose, in my skewed opinion, one of the most important houses that has hosted shows in the area for some years. The Corpse Fortress in Silver Spring, Maryland, right outside D.C., is a venue that has hosted tons of touring bands from an extremely eclectic mix of genres. Many of my friends have lived, and still do live, there over the years. Magrudergrind has played there and they have had some of the craziest parties I can remember. It’s very unfortunate because this is yet another important asset being plucked from the already acute D.I.Y. music scene in the city. There are less and less small-scaled, D.I.Y. spots for bands to play and this is detrimental to keeping the D.I.Y. scene thriving.
Graffiti has always been a big part of Magrudergrind’s ethos. Have you gone “heavy bombing” lately?
I have not painted in some years. Graff and street art are as much an element of our music as the hip-hop samples we use. We all love hip-hop culture. By using imagery, samples, and lyrics we convey this interest in our aesthetic.
Magrudergrind/Despise You tour dates:
09/09 Washington, D.C., St. Stephens
09/10 Cambridge, MA, The Democracy Center *
09/11 Brooklyn, NY, Shea Stadium ^
09/12 Philadelphia, PA, The Barbary w/ Backslider, Callous
09/13 Richmond, VA, Strange Matter %
09/14 Raleigh, NC, Kings
09/15 Atlanta, GA, WonderRoot #!
09/16 Tampa, FL, Transitions Art Gallery #
09/17 Gainesville, FL, The Atlantic #$
* = w/ Vaccine and more
^ = w/ Defeatist and more
% = w/ Suppression, Cannabis Corpse
# = w/ Shitstorm
#! = w/ Shitstorm and Primate
#$ = w/ Shitstorm, Floor, Asshole Parade
Chris Krovatin is the author of two young adult novels, Heavy Metal & You and Venomous. He is currently working on multiple new writing projects, as well as new material with his local New York metal band Flaming Tusk. He is a contributing writer for Revolver and generally comes off as a good-natured pain in everyone’s collective ass.
On February 18, I saw Eyehategod with Misery Index, Magrudergrind, Strong Intention, and Mutilation Rites at Europa in Brooklyn. Here are my thoughts on the show.
Original plan for the evening: Come a little buzzed, maybe smoke before Eyehategod.
Price of a 32-oz. Big Cup at Rosemary’s Greenpoint Tavern: $4.
Number of Big Cups consumed preshow: 2.
Status upon arriving at Europa: Fucking useless.
New plan for the evening: Stay standing. Chris? Chris, stay. Standing.
First band on: New York’s own Mutilation Rites.
Sounds like: Deafening washes of noise that transition suddenly into charging riffs that would make Kerry King jealous.
In with the band: I work with their bassist part-time at a vegan place in Williamsburg.
What: You think Revolver pays me to cover shows for their website?
Event witnessed upon trip to the bathroom: Dude getting thrown against the wall and frisked by a burly security guard while his friend got his wallet dissected on the sink.
Declaration cackled by Eyehategod singer Mike Williams behind me: “Looks like a bad time to need to take a fuckin’ piss!”
Back patch of the night: The GG Allin back patch with the Leftöver Crack strip patch above it. Fuck yeah, let’s get filthy.
Next up: Strong Intention from Maryland.
Sounds like: Noisey hardcore with some big breakdowns thrown in. Cool and blaring, but not really my cup of tea.
Attempts made to get bassist/vocalist Zac Ohler to remove his shirt: One.
Attempt: Failed.
Number of overpriced cans of Budweiser consumed at this point: 5.
Level of communication possible: Hand gestures, head motions.
Yo, dude: You gotta…you gotta cig’rrete f’me? Frr thissky ride here?
Number of local metal dudes encountered: Bill from Demilitia, Sam from Mutant Supremacy.
Number of Revolver editors this reporter got blazed in front of: One. And trust me, Kory’s seen worse. He hangs with Gaahl and shit.
Rumor going around: Eyehategod won’t be on until 12:30.
Impressive: Guess the club didn’t book another Polish mob dance party like they did at the Immolation/Mortician show.
Next, we have: Magrudergrind from Washington, D.C.
Sounds like: A tenement building being razed by huge rats with scrap-metal claws who fuck their victims to death with pulsating pink dicks.
Current mental state: Waaaay too high for Magrudergrind.
Best thing about being too high for Magrudergrind: It really shows you how utterly punishing their music is. These guys are ripping it up, and it’s freakin’ me out, man.
Merch purchased: EHG shirt with the Black Flag bars done as tabs of Xanax on the back.
Merch almost purchased: Show poster featuring a nude junkie chick on a tombstone being tied-off by death. It’s okay, just a bit literal for my poster tastes.
Next we have: Misery Index, from New York.
Band fact: Misery Index features former members of death-metal empire-smashers Dying Fetus.
Which is why: They sound like they’re going to kill everyone here.
Awards held: Misery Index won my Grimmy Award for Most Virulent Hatred of Mankind.
Highlight of the set: “Heirs to Thievery.”
Hilarious sight of the night: A bunch of EHG fans trying to mosh, five minutes in, and we’re all panting and sweating from all the booze and drugs.
Cigarettes smoked: Five.
Thought you quit: Yeah, me too.
Preparedness to see Eyehategod live: Well, there’s sweat all over my body, everyone dressed in faded black, and I’m slightly ashamed of myself.
Finally: Eyehategod from NOLA.
My name is God: And I fucking hate you.
Sounds like: Snot on newsprint. Glass in your lunch. HPV. Your gums, when some food gets caught in them and they swell up and bleed any time you touch them. Expired pills rattling around in a plastic bottle. An old hunk of fence being blown around a vacant lot. A single sore on a poorly-shaved vagina. The American dream squealing when it sees the cleaver in the butcher’s hands. Yellowed paper on shag carpet. Exhaust fans with blood on ‘em.
Amount of drugs done by the audience the exact moment the band came onstage: All of them. Every last scrap of drug.
Highlights of the night: “Dixie Whiskey,” “30$ Bag,” and of course, “White Nigger.”
Interesting idea: Moshing to this. I feel like the way to dance to this music is to blow Percocet and throw up.
Amazing material played: “New Orleans Is The New Vietnam.” Awesome song, and what a title.
State of drunkenness upon exiting show: Blecch.
Sudden desire to find and do prescription medication: Unadvisable.