I know rawness when I hear it, and when I first heard Pittsburg’s Code Orange Kids, I knew I was hearing a band that was beyond raw! Honestly, I believe these young humans are the real fucking deal, and have passion for days to create some awesome music. One band that has seen them grow has been Masakari – I reached out to them to interview Code Orange Kids and was super stoked when al parties agreed. It’s such an killer read, because it’s more of a conversation between peers than an interview, and that’s what it’s all about! CVLT Nation is honored to share with you Joe from Masakari and Jami from Code Orange Kids breaking it down to the nitty gritty!
JOE: I have been basically following you guys since you’ve started. I think the first time I saw you was at Roboto ADD fest which was a brilliant mess of a set. I loved it immediately it was sloppy as hell and had tons of mistakes but something about it felt so special, I knew immediately that you were a band to watch. You’ve gone through some line-up changes, and definitely experimenting with your sound over the years, so how would you describe this progressive? What has most influenced it?
JAMI: Haha that was definitely a mess. “Brilliant” I’m not so sure, but thank you very much. The progress in our sound and in us as people all comes from our friends, our scene, our community and even just our emotional progress as we have grown together and we have gotten into different things, and we have tried our best to let all of that encompass what we are today and what we will be in the future.
How do Joe and Kimi’s presence affect the band as a whole? I think the idea of having people who are not technically in the band, but who are always there, is an interesting concept and I’d like you to shed a bit more light on that experience.
I must first note that Joe has officially joined the group as an instrument-playing member, so give him a high five or kiss the next time you see him. With Kimi and Joe, they have always been a part of Code Orange Kids, and always will be for numerous reasons. The most simple being that they are our best friends in the entire world, and are on the same page of contributing to something that wants to exist as more than just a “band”. I know that sounds entirely fucking stupid, but it makes sense in all of our heads. Code Orange Kids is more to us then the music we play, it is an idea and hopefully that fleshes out more as we continue on (and get better at expressing it). Joe and Kimi are a part of that idea, and they, along with Eric and Reba, are the only people (save for one and my family) that I feel I can trust with any part of my mind and emotions. That is Code Orange Kids, a
self-sustaining community of a few of us, and that takes more than a few people playing instruments and yelling over each other.
What do you feel about politics inside Hardcore? Personally, I feel that they have begun to take a sidestep to the music, something that bugs me. To me, the message is as important as the music. How do you all feel about political intent in hardcore, and what do you feel The Kids have to say?
I believe that politics in hardcore are extremely important, and that if there aren’t people out there expressing what they believe in, then our subculture is absolutely pointless. It is essential that there are bands (like yourselves) that are standing up for what they believe is right through their music and message. However, I don’t think that means that bands that might “sidestep” politics for the music don’t have an important place as well, as this music and this subculture means a million different things to a million different people (which is the beauty of it in my eyes). There is a place for everything in my ideal hardcore scene except for bigotry. Code Orange Kids is not a “political” band per se (though in its early days it started that way), simply because I am too depressed most of the time to write about anything except for my own first world feelings and frustrations. We are all politically aware and active (Eric works for the Fight for Philly social justice campaign in Philadelphia, Reba writes occasionally for a feminist-leftist zine) and there is much importance in keeping those themes in hardcore.
This question is more for Reba, but by all means I feel that anyone can answer it. As a female musician, do you feel you are treated differently at shows based on your gender?
I would ask Reba this one, but I know that Reba would not allow herself to be treated “differently” by anyone, whether that be at shows or in everyday life. And we would not allow it either.
Do you feel that sexism hasn’t had a huge impact on Hardcore (specifically the shows you attend/play)? Because personally I find it running rampant. I don’t think I have ever even attended a show in the States where I didn’t hear some sexist retort thrown out, from the more quasi-innocent but misguided to the blatantly blunt. I personally feel it is just whitewashed over and people are afraid to call others out on their shit. Thoughts?
There is no place for sexism in any type of subculture, culture or society that I want to be a part of. Do I think that we as a community should be going on a big witch hunt exiling people who make jokes or remarks that can be considered sexist? No. I don’t. Because I don’t think that 1. that teaches those people anything but just to find empowerment in those terms and ideas based out of anger for someone running around acting as some kind of “scene police” who, as you put it, is “calling everyone out on their shit” or 2. that it creates anything but a hostile environment for all of us. In my eyes, there is a big difference between being ignorant and uninformed (dumb fucking jokes), and being hateful. While those who are ignorant are DEFINITELY adding to an ongoing problem that has existed since the dawn of man, I think there are other ways to go about teaching those people that the words they are saying are hurtful and degrading that doesn’t involve “calling them out” in a public setting. THAT BEING SAID, I see males treating females in an absolutely disgusting manner on a daily basis in any/every “community” that I participate in, most groups of people that I am around, and on every street that I walk down, and it makes me absolutely sick. There is not nearly enough respect for females in our society, and the hardcore/punk community is a part of that. Through the “college experience” of half of one semester, I have seen firsthand how many men think of and treat women as objects and conquests, and I will never ever be a part of that. Whether it is by “liquoring em up” at a party to get them to do things they will later regret (RAPE), or sitting around in a group of “friends” swapping stories that start with the phrase “this bitch I fucked….. (insert story of humiliation/rape here), it has become socially acceptable (and I guess it always has been) to treat other human beings (particularly women) like they mean absolutely nothing. That is something that none of us will ever stand for or accept. Ever. I have written songs about sexual abuse (“Roots” from our demo), and a lot of the deep-seeded frustration in my lyrics and in my mind comes from wanting to destroy these pieces of human garbage that seem to populate the majority of wherever I am at all times.
How did you hook up with Mayfly Records?
Bob (Mayfly owner) just messaged me on Facebook and said he really liked our band and wanted to work with us in some capacity. I told him we wanted to do a seven inch, and that was that. Very simple. He is an awesome guy who has become a very dear friend, and will be part of this band’s life in some way forever.
What is your favorite release of your own so far and why?
I dunno if I have a “favorite” release or anything like that, but I am really proud of “CYCLES” as well as the “EMBRACE ME // ERASE ME” CS. With that tape, we really started developing the artistic direction, mood and themes that we want our band to start to express from now on. For us, being in a band isn’t just writing riffs and putting lyrics over it, it means a lot to us that there is a lot of thought process behind all of it, all of the nuances of not only the music but the presentation, because that is what we enjoy. I think that we are getting better and better at that. A lot of bands seem to just force together a product with riff a and riff b, and this part and that part and throw a demon with a hockey jersey on the cover and bam boom it’s done, and that’s just not something that we will ever do, because to me it is meaningless. Not knocking anyone, but this music isn’t about that to me. Hopefully as we go on, each release will be my new favorite. If it’s not, then we shouldn’t be a band anymore.
What is next for the Kids? Tours/Recording/Anything?
Our 7″ (Cycles) comes out in a few weeks. We are recording for a split with one of our favorite bands in November, and we’ll play a show at home at the end of the month. We will then be touring the entire United States for about 6 weeks starting in January with another one of our favorite bands. Then we will come home (Pittsburgh? Philly? Somewhere?) for a few weeks, and hit the road again for the entirety of March. Then our split will come out with the aforementioned band, and we will tour with the aforementioned band in the US and Canada. Then we will record an LP and do more touring. We are going to write/record/tour forever until we burn out and quit. We have some really big news to announce soon, but we can’t go into that yet.
How do you feel the move to Philly will affect the band?
So far it hasn’t affected us, in the sense that we still do what we always do. It is a lot different from where we are from, but that has been good for us. New people, new places, new scene. It was time to try something different than what we have lived in for our whole lives up until this point. There have been tough times, but it’s still the four of us and wherever we all are we will be fine. It is really cool to be able to see a lot of bands that we don’t get the chance to see in a smaller city like Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh will always be our home, and always be where our hearts and souls are. Forever and ever.
All Photos By Tanner Douglass
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