Pete Ives interview's Rich Hoak from Total Fucking Destruction/Brutal Truth! Catch TFD tomorrow at Big Day In!

IU: Where is Total Fucking Destruction from, and what are they all about?

Rich: Philly.. post-apocalyptic grind

IU: How'd you guys start making music?

Rich: When Brutal Truth broke-up, started writing songs with TFD-- went from there.

IU: What got you into hardcore?



Rich: I've always played music, so, I just switched from band to band that ran from music I was into and followed that.

IU: How would you describe the music community in Philly these days?

Rich: I wouldn't.. I rarely get out of the house when I'm at home. I'm usually on tour and, when I'm not, I don't really go out.. I go to shows 200 days out of the year. When I come back, it's spent with family and stuff like that.

IU: You guys have a pretty diverse style, how do you go about the writing process and what kinds of things have influenced your music (socially, musically,politically etc)?

Rich: Most TFD songs are written first title and lyrics, and then we kind of reverse engineer from there depending on what the song is about and what the music is kind of based around. I'm more of a drummer than musician, I start vocal patterns from poetry and collective ideas..  rhythmically over melodically.

IU: You guys have been in the game for a little while, have you noticed any drastic changes concerning any
and every aspect of the music 'scene' worth discussing?

Rich: The scene's really kind of an artificial construct. Ask any musician and they'll either tell you it's great, or it doesn't exist. With TFD, I try to stay away from the scene sort-of-thing. I'm just interested in music. TFD is very intuitive and definitely a blend of inner and post-outer influences. There are some big underground scenes out there that TFD travels through, but I'm personally not one to pay much attention. I'm not a huge music fan-- no CDs, no favorite artist.. I make music, and play music. The bands I'm into are people i see, met, and hung out with.

IU: How has shit been going since the drop of your last full-length and these last couple of splits?

Rich: Most of the touring I do is with Brutal Truth. Most TFD dates are scheduled around Brutal Truth.. but we've got a Japanese tour lined-up, plus another tour. We've been playing up-and-down the east coast since "Peace, Love and Total Fucking Destruction" came out. Usually, we'd tour more, but Brutal Truth dropped one around heavy touring.

IU: Where have been some of your favorite places to play, and why?

Rich: TFD has been all over. We toured Brazil and Paraguay, in Iceland, and the Czech Republic. We got stuck in Europe for a while.. cops with machine guns tried to take our passports and until we gave them money.

IU: Are you guys psyched on the upcoming Japan dates?

Rich: First time for TFD.. been there before.. yeah, were totally psyched. Grind Bastard's Fest: 15 grind bands, Unholy Grave, Total Fucking Destruction headlining.. 2 shows in Tokyo, one in Osaka.

IU: What's it like?

Rich: Pretty cool, it's a little more formal, in like a, you know, if you go to a Brutal Truth show in Japan, there's four or five-hundred people, but it's run as a professional concert, as if it there were to be thousands of
people in attendance. From venue, to people, to PA, to ticket-taking.. it's not like a  BT plays in the states where theres 400 people, but it's at a bar and people are fighting. In japan, it's much more a concert-hall-- more for music and not-so-much for the party.

IU: Will this be your first time playing Ithaca?

Rich: I think so.... TFD has played in Binghamton a bunch. We've also played in Rochester, and Syracuse, and Saratoga at the 'Shit Fest'.. not Ithaca, though. I've been to Ithaca just camping-out, swimming in the falls or something.

IU: Anything you'd like to say to those who will be there for the Big Day In on May 1st?

Rich: We're gearing-up, and considering this the start of our world tour. We'll be playing a set of 35 or so songs in 20 minutes. It's a little different than your average punk band a little over-the-top... mostly new songs!