Black N Blue Bowl: Interview with Vehement Serenade

The Black N Blue Bowl featured a surprise set from a new band called Vehement Serenade. The group, who was playing their first ever set, features some familiar faces. The band should have music up soon here, on it's Myspace page.

--On the new band:

Jamin Hunt: Mike was writing a little bit of material. We had been in a project back in the day as kids. He used to play in Sworn Enemy, now I play in Sworn Enemy. It's like we've just been missing [each other] so closely every time. And finally, tonight is the first time we've shared the stage since [we were kids]. It's beautiful. It comes back around.

Eddie Ortiz: At the end of the day, Mike was the mastermind. We'd all done tours together, we were all good friends for a long time, and he saw something in each individual. He brought us all together and now it's evolving from there.

--Who's who:

Mike Couls: On vocals, it's Karl [Buechner] from Earth Crisis, Path of Resistance, Freya. On the drums is Paulie [Antignani] "No Neck," formerly of Sworn Enemy, Everybody Gets Hurt. On guitar is Jamin [Hunt], currently in Sworn Enemy, formerly in Hatework and Placenta. On the other guitar is Eddie Ortiz, the Puerto Rican phenomenon. He plays in Subzero, he used to play in Cattle Press. He was with Candiria for some time. I'm Mike Couls. I used to play in Sworn Enemy, Cold As Life, Merauder, Agents of Man. I play with Danny Diablo sometimes.

Eddie: 25 bands between the five of us.

I ain't got any pictures of Vehement Serenade.
So peep these crowd shot. Photos by David Hsu.

--On Vehement Serenade's sound:

Paulie Antignani: I would say classic hardcore, classic '90s hardcore, with a good, hard, slow twist that gives it some originality. We all give it our own little twist. Not being afraid to play a riff that we'd use in one of the bands we've played in before.

Jamin: It's a plethora of different influences. We're gonna' do a little something different. We'll keep it interesting, keep experimenting, because that's what it's all about. There's not gonna' be any holding back.

Mike: We've only rehearsed four times as a full band. Karl came in for two sessions a couple weeks ago. Different people were on different tours, including him. Actually, it was funny, on the Firestorm Fest, Earth Crisis was on tour with Sworn Enemy, so Karl and Jamin were on tour together with different bands.

Jamin: A total of 12 hours, if that, we've played together in the same room.

--On recording an album:

Eddie: We've got nine or 10 songs, a little over an album's worth of music already. We're writing more stuff, so we'll have probably 20 songs by the end of the season. We're going for it.

Mike: In late May, around touring schedules, we're gonna' go into the studio with Joey Z. from Life of Agony. He's got his own studio here in Brooklyn, Method of Groove Studio. We're very stoked because he gets great sounds. He knows the hard side of music and how to keep things aggressive, and he knows the melodic side of music. A very good person to be at the helm of this recording.

Jamin: Joey's a great producer. He takes his time, gets in there with a fine-toothed comb, finds the right tones. Amazing guitar player, too. Amazing friend. Amazing studio, it's phenomenal. I'm so excited to be able to go back into the studio again with him working on something so experimental and off the cuff, knowing how we worked together [on the last Sworn Enemy record, Maniacal].

--On hitting the road:

Mike: When the music comes out and people get a taste for it, that's the foundation. After that, we'll start popping up everywhere.

Paulie: I can't wait to quit my fucking job. I've been off the road one year, I can't wait to go back. I work as a cook in Manhattan. I make bangin' food. I love it, but I like playing shows and traveling the world a little bit better. I can cook when I'm on tour. Garlic and olive oil, that's all you need.