Interview with Pete Tabbot sometime in 1990
This interview happened right after the release of “IN THE BLINK OF NA EYE” full lenght debut album on Big Franks Nemesis Records. I was at that time already a pen pal with Dave Franklin as i used to buy vynil and merchandise of the band straight from him.This interview was originally published on the italian Straight Edge fanzine “MY ATTITUDE” issue # 5
1) WHO´S IN THE BAND AND WHEN DID YOU START TO PLAY ?
Matt Riga- drums, Chris Mcgill- bass, Dave Franklin- vox, Peter Tabbot- guitar. We have been together with this line up almost two years
2) WHAT DID YOU PUSH AND MOTIVATE TO START A BAND ?
We all wanted to play for a lot of people, and we wanted to write quality music with fairly personal, introspetive lyrics. I think we have achieved quite a bit we set out to do, but there´s a lot left to accomplish.
3) YOU ARE VERY TALENTED MUSICIANS, A WAY ABOVE THE AVERAGE OF THE TYPICAL HARDCORE STANDARD BANDS, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN ?
Thank you, we all have been playing for awhile (indipendently) and if we play well together and write good songs, it´s even better.
4) IS THIS THE FIRST BAND FOR ALL OF YOU ?
No, we all had previous bands. Some of us have been in more than one band. This is by far the most talented unit we have been part, though.
5) IF I´M NOT WRONG, YOU´RE A STRAIGHT EDGE BAND, DOES THIS LABEL HURT OR DISTURB YOU IN ANY WAY ?
Actually VISION, it´s not a straight edge band . Dave the singer is s.e., but the rest of us are not. We do however attract a largely straight edge audience. This is good + bad, because while it provides an interested audience, it also turns off some people to our music. Some people who think we are a S.E. band (those who aren´t S.E.) might not give us a listen, so the “label” hurts as well as helps.
6) WHY DO YOU OFTEN USE THE DOUBLE BASS DRUMS IN YOUR SONGS ?
We tend to write the music to songs, and the drums are usually the last musical instrument to “be written” into the songs. (though Matt writes music on the bass guitar too). Just like Chris mihgt write a bass fill or i might write a guitar lead/fill, Matt uses the double bass drums at times to accentuate or enhance the structure of some of our songs. I Think his use of the double bass-drums add an intensity to some of our songs that couldn´t ben achieved with just one bass drum.
7) Reading through the lines of your lyrics, it seems that they cover more personal-intimate topics than most of the hardcore bands do, am i right ?
First of all, i think most bands’ lyrics seem typical because they are writing about what they hear in other bands’ songs, or what they used to discussing or hearing. When we write lyrics, they are very personal and they come strictly from personal thought and/or experience. No one in the band is trying to speak for the world or about things we don´t deal with day to day. We don’ twrite songs about hard living or struggling because we don´t live in the streets. That doesn´t mean we don´t understand or care about what we relate to and identify with personal emotions and experiences. That´s about it. If they seem less “typical” than other bands´ lyrics, then that´s because they (lyrics) are a reflection of us, and we´re not your “typical” band.
8) THE TITLE OF YOUR DEBUT LP IS “IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE” DOES IT GOT ANY PARTICULAR DEEP MEANING ?
“IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE” is the title of the Lp as well as the song. The song itself is just about how we quickly change and how we can correct all that we feel needs to be changed in your lives. Chris wrote the lyrics to that one, so we might have a slightly different interpretation than i, but the theme si pretty universal, a theme of personal change and obligation to yourself.
9) YOUR SOUND SEEMS TO BE TINGED BY METAL CHORDS,IS THERE ANY hm OUT THERE HEAVELY INFLUENCING YOU ?
Sure, there are a couple of metal bands that individually like/respect.We don´t try to write our songs with a ‘TINGE OF METAL”, but they sound that way, then that´s the way they came out.There´s no way to avoid sounding like your influences.If you´re looking for particular band (metal)names, i like Metallica, (so do Dave + Matt). Dave likes Suicidal Tendencies records a lot and Matt likes everything. Look at Kraut, their second Lp is very metal influenced in some ways, but it’s not metal at all (does that make sense ?).
10) DO YOU GET MANY MAILS FROM OVERSEAS ?
We get mail sometimes from Europe. Apparently, the hardcore scene in Europe is hungy for American music, records, tours etc. In America a lot of kids are happy with the vast array of American H.C., so they passing up the opportunity to look to international bands.
11) IS LIVING CLOSE TO NYC GIVE YOU MORE CHANCES TO PLAY AROUND AND GET A WIDER AND BETTER EXPOSURE ?
Living neart to N.Y.C. definetely has advantages. NY has one of the largest and most popular “H.C. scenes” and its influence spreads out much farther than the city itself. We´ve played in NYC a few times, but there are so many kids, not just in NYC. NY is cool because there are so many kids in a such small area. Word gets around quick, and if you play well in NYC, it´s easy to get a good “buzz” going. The kids will remember and come to check you out when you play again.
12) WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN YOUR LIFE BESIDES PLAYING IN THE BAND ?
Chris and dave both work full time jobs, Matt and i are both college students and work part-time.
13) DO YOU THINK THAT THE NY HARDCORE “SOUND” INFLUENCE YOUR MUSIC IN A WAY OR ANOTHER ?
Sure, we all like certain NY bands and NY sound, and this ultimately affect our music . The NY “sound” affects so many people, bands, etc, we´re not exempt from that.
14) IS THERE STLL (IF THERE´S EVER BEEN ONE) A KIND OF RIVALRY/COMPETITION BETWEEN THE NY vs NJ SCENES ?
I don´t know if there´s ever really been NYC vs NJ. There´s a lot of pride among NY bands ( it seems that way to me ), but it doesn´t really affect the way NY bands see NJ bands. I´d imagine there are some Ny people who develop “rivalry¨with NJ bannds because some NJ bands bite off “the NY sound¨, but I don´t see a malicious relationship between NYC and NJ.
15) CAN YOU EXPLAIN ME THE MEANING OF THE THREE MONKEYS ON THE COVER OF “UNDISCOVERED¨EP ?
The three monkeys on the cover stand for “hear no evil, see no eveil, speak no evil¨at least on a universal sense. My bass player Chris thought the monkeys were a powerful image, because theey represent someone who has their eyes, ears and mouth closed to reality to the world around them. Therefore the title “UNDISCOVERED¨and the monkey represent the person (people) who haven´t discovered the world around them.
16) N.J. SCENE IS PRETTY ACTIVE LATELY, WHICH ARE THE MOST OUSTANDING BANDS WORTHY A MENTION ?
Everyone in the band may have a different opinion, but i see SHADES APART, STICKS AND STONES, WITHIN THESE WALLS, SEPARETE PEACE, BOUNCING SOULS, RELEASE and AMERICAN STANDARD as the most promising bands in New Jersey. There are, however, many other bands that are actively playing and recording in the state.
17) HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU PRACTICE DURING A WEEK ?
We practice twice a week, every week.
18) DO YOU NEVER GET BORED OF PLAYING ?
I never get bored of playing and i know no one else gets tired of playing either.It does no´t matter if werplaying for 20 people or 500 people or just practicing, it’ s something we enjoy doing, so it doesn’t get boring. I ’ll never grow tired of playing live.
19) DID VISION EVER TOUR THROUGH THE STATES ?
We did a tour with INSTED in the spring last year (1989) that took us to Philadelphia, Connecticut, Cleveland, Ohio, Toledo, Buffalo, N.Y., Maryland, Bethlehem, PA. And Washington D.C.. We were supposed to do a whole US tour in August, but we were fucked up by over by the guy who “ booked ” it for us. He called us two days before we were supppose to leave and said “ I have cancelled the whole thing ”, here’ s some phones # ’ s, do it yourself !
20) WHICH ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS ?
We plan on touring in the end of December and through January, and we ’re also considering an Euroepan tour, of our L.p.. Nothing is definite yet, we’ re just considering our options.
21) ANYTHING ELSE TO ADD ?
Thanks a lot to Freddy and the rest of “ My Attitude ” staff, and anyone in Italy, etc etc, who is reading this ’zine. Look for “ Blink Of An Eye ” L.p. near you and request it from your local store if they don’ t have it. Thanks again !
Vision kept playing and released more stuff through the years, saw them once in the summer 1990 at the hardcore Superbowl and were awesome on stage a blast of power and energy. Dave Franklin toured with Killing Time replacing Anthony Comunale during their first Euro tour. I was lucky to catch them live in august 1990, and they really were awesome blew everything away with an incredible set. Sadly Dave Franklin passed away too early in january 2017, rest in Power Dave, we miss you.”
DxR 