This interview was done with Mike and Jesse from All Out War outside the Chance in Poughkeepsie, NY 9/98.
This was done the day I found out about a fight the singer of my old band got into with a good friend of AOW's after our show two days earlier.
So if you don't follow some of the interview, we're eluding to the altercation and attempting to distance ourselves from it.


TX: Well introduce yourselves first of all.
MIKE: I'm Mike, I'm the singer.
JESSE: I'm Jesse, I'm the drummer.

TX: So the new record is coming out the 22nd right?
MIKE: Well it got pushed back a week.
JESSE: October 6th is the new date.

TX: Can we expect anything different on this record?
JESSE: No.
MIKE: Basically the same stuff.

TX: Was it different making a record on Victory than it was on Gainground records?
JESSE: Yeah it sounds a lot better. You know, a lot more professional.

TX: Where did you guys record?
JESSE: Tracks East in New Jersey. The same place Hatebreed recorded.
MIKE: And Snapcase recorded there.
JESSE: M.O.D., The Misfits, SKID ROW.

TX: Skid Row Rocks huh? I was in a band that recorded in a studio and Sebastian Bach was there like the day before.
JESSE: Oh yeah?
TX: Yeah. But I won't mention the name of the band for fear of getting my ass kicked.
(Jesse laughs...
Mike realizes who I'm talking about)
MIKE: Oh yeah...(shaking his finger). I heard about this.
TX: So did I...about 2 minutes ago.
MIKE: The guy called at like 10 o'clock in the morning all pissed off.
TX: I just heard about it like 2 minutes ago, I was so pissed.
JESSE: You're cool though.
(to Mike) Yeah the guy just talked to him.

TX: So how did the tour of Europe go.
MIKE: Awesome. Great.
JESSE: We had a lot of fun there the whole tour.
MIKE: A lot of fun.

TX: You guys got a good reaction?
JESSE: Yeah, real good.
MIKE: The first show was like 800 people.
TX: Really.

TX: Is it a different reaction than here?
MIKE: No. A lot of people think it is, but it's basically the same. Like a lot of people are like "well how do they dress?", it's like "same".
TX: The same kind of scene?
JESSE: The same kind of scene and reaction.
MIKE: They take things a little more to heart than they do here. I think they're more supportive over there than here.
JESSE: A lot more straight edge and veganism too, over there.


TX: You guys have more of a metal feel than Hardcore.
MIKE: A much more metal feel than hardcore.
TX: So do take more of a metal influence?
JESSE: Yeah definitely.
MIKE: Definitely. I mean like Me and Eric totally grew up with the hardcore scene from like way back, but we play in a metal style, we don't claim to play a traditional hardcore style of music. We play a very metal influenced style, there's no denying that. We're not gonna be one of these bands who comes out and says "oh no, we're totally hardcore" because you know, we're metal.

TX: Now you just got a new guitarist right?
JESSE: Yeah, Andy from WITHDRAWN.
TX: Is he working out well?
JESSE: Yeah, he's working out real good. Tonight's his first show.
Mike: So we'll find out how good he's working out in about 10 minutes.

TX: (To Jesse) Anything going on with End Of One right now? I know it's not exactly together.
JESSE: I'm not in the band anymore, but they recently found a drummer and everything is going good. Whenever they're ready they're gonna put out a CD on RPP from Belgium.

TX: So is there any bad blood between you and the old label?
JESSE: Gain Ground?
TX: Yeah.
MIKE: Uh...yeah actually...because, you know, we didn't even get any kind of royalties' statements or anything. Nothing. It was just like, he put out the CD and then that was it. Even to get information about it was like pulling teeth with the guy. So I mean we had no bad blood at first, but now, we're like totally put off with the guy. I wouldn't recommend doing it for like other bands. I mean he got our stuff out there and, you know, it was a good experience as far as getting our name out there, but everything else that we were promised, we never got anything.

TX: So has it been a lot better working with Victory?
MIKE: Yeah, you know they call you to make sure everything is going alright. They're always in touch with you, you always know what's going on.

TX: So what can we expect from ALL OUT WAR in the near future?
MIKE: You can expect a tour with Buried Alive from Buffalo. And then basically just a lot of shows.

TX: Well that's about it, thanks a lot for the interview.
MIKE: No problem.
JESSE: Alright man take care.


The photo and logo on this page were taken from the Victory Records Web page. The photographer is noted on the picture so all props, copyrights and credit go to Victory and their associates.


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