Interviews: Champion
Mike Rodriguez recently sat down with Seattle, Washington-based straight edge hardcore act, Champion. The band released
Promises Kept last year and compiled two of their older EPs into Time Slips Away this year. The disc includes both the Come Out Swinging and Count Our Numbers EPs which were released in 2001 and 2002.
This past spring, the band became the first independent Western act to visit Korea since Kill Your Idols and Ensign ventured there in 2001, and the first to ever tour outside the capital city of Seoul.
You can click Read More for the interview.
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Hailing from Seattle Washington, Champion is a straight edge
hardcore band that doesnât fuck around.
Champion plays blistering straight edge hardcore with something to
say. They will tell you what they
think, but they arenât going to push it on you, which is how it should be done. Champion has been touring for almost a
full year and still arenât done yet.
They want to play as many shows as they can and get their message out to
everyone. They have, and will stay
true to what they believe in and I have the utmost respect for them as band and
as people. I recently had the pleasure of talking to axeman Aram and hereâs
what went down:
Mike: I
first just want to let you know that you guys are an amazing band and that your
CDs have had a big impact on my life. Please tell me who you are and what you
play.
Aram: Hi, my name is Aram and I play guitar, and thanks so
much for the support! The best part of playing in a Hardcore band is the chance
to meet people and get your ideas out to them so it means a lot to us that our
efforts matter to you or anyone else.
Mike: When
and what made you join this band?
Aram: Champion as a band started 4 or 5 years ago., and I
actually joined the band after they had started playing so I donât know the
exact time frame. I know the idea
when they first started was a Straight Edge band influenced by In My Eyes and
Chain of Strength which is the exactly what I had always wanted to do so I knew
that when I started playing with them it was going to be something that I was
going to put 100% into.
Mike: What
are you doing now? You guys have
been on tour for awhile right?
Aram: We just finished a tour with Agnostic Front, Full
Blown Chaos and two of our favorite bands Outbreak and Death Before Dishonor.
Now weâre just hitting some cities in the South on the way back out to
California so we can play the final Carry On shows. We were excited to play
those shows because Carry On was a really important band to all of us so itâll
be great to see them two more times.
Hardcore was never gone, ever. But right now hardcore bands have a lot more
options and the chance to make some legitimate money which is both good and
bad.
Mike: Talk
about the new CD you guys just put out.
Aram: "Times Slip Away" is the title of the CD and itâs not
really a new release but kinda a collection. Itâd been released in Europe now
for well over a year and last spring Bridge 9 decided to release it over here
as well; the CD has both our, "Come Out Swinging" and "Count Our Numbers" EPs
on it which are both now out of print.
Mike: How do
you like Bridge 9?
Aram: Bridge 9 is one of the best labels out there right
now; everyone at the label is a very good friend of ours and its great to work
with people we respect and that put their best effort out for every band. Also,
its an honor to share a label with bands like Outbreak, Some Kind of Hate,
Death Before Dishonor, Have Heart, Blue Monday, and the best band in Europe, No
Turning Back. Thereâs a real feeling of brotherhood at B9 and all the bands and
people at the label work together so its amazing to know that at any given time
there are like 30 or 40 people willing to help you out anyway they can. Another
thing about B9 that Iâm into is they havenât but put out a lot of things I donât
like; I pretty much back every release and band on the label so being involved
in it for the past four years has been great.
Mike: "Promises
Kept" was really a break through record for you guys, what do you think about
the success it has gotten?
Aram: It has
been awesome; we worked really hard on that record and have done our best to
make sure it gets out to people. Weâve literally have been on tour constantly
since the record came out, basically been on tour the whole year, and I think
weâre all really happy with the way things have come together. Iâm grateful for
what weâve had the chance to do and excited for what lays ahead
I would hope that people could try to see that weâre all a part of the same thing and that ever crack that we let develop between us eventually becomes a chasm that hold us apart.
Mike: You
guys have been playing together for a while now. What are some of your most memorable experience playing in
this band?
Aram: Touring
with bands we look up to like 7 Seconds, Sick of it All, Slapshot, and Agnostic
Front and getting the chance to actually see these bands play every night has been
incredible. Also, the chance to head out with bands that we love and respect
like Down to Nothing, Outbreak, 100 Demons, The Promise (RIP), Comeback Kid,
Allegiance, and Death Before Dishonor. Beyond that weâve also had the chance to
travel all over the world weâve hit up Japan, Australia, Europe, and South
Korea which is surreal. Listen, all of it has been great, but NOTHING beats the
feeling of seeing kids stage diving, and singing along with X-ed fists⦠small
show, big show, basement, whateverâ¦. Hardcore for people who love Hardcoreâ¦
thatâs what matters to us and the chance to witness it for other bands and to
be a part of it ourselves⦠thatâs been the best.
Mike: Hardcore
is back. What do you think about
the resurgence of hardcore?
Aram: Well
Hardcore was never gone, ever. But right now hardcore bands have a lot more
options and the chance to make some legitimate money which is both good and
bad. Its good in the sense that bands get a chance to stick around longer, do
more in that time, and really get their records out there, which is important
if a band actually has something to say. The negative side is that it attracts
people who want to commodity what weâve spent years building, and has turned
some bands into "rock acts" rather than Hardcore bands. It all boils down to
this: the Hardcore scene, like every other social setting in the world, is made
of two kinds of people; the first type is the sincere people that really care
and are working hard to make things grow. These people are interested in making
our scene grow so they find a balance between taking and giving back. The other
type are the people realizing that hardcore has a level of mainstream
popularity and are doing their best to squeeze every drop of glory and success
out of our scene that they can without doing a damn thing to give back. The
only way to tell the difference is to get out there, do your best, and give it
your all. When you get burned by anyone who isnât dedicated to what weâre all a
part of, you learn a lesion, apply I to your life and move on. Trust me when I
say the fakes will weed themselves out in the long run and move on to the next
thing.
Mike: With
hardcore is becoming ever more popular, how do you feel about the scene? You being Straight Edge how do you feel
straight edge scene has been affected?
Aram: I am kind
of concerned about The Straight Edge; it seems to be this safety zone for
people these days rather than a statement. People are saying they are straight
edge but they donât X up, and they donât try to get ideas out there about it.
If itâs not a urgent and vital movement then itâs just becomes a title and a
trend and thatâs just not what I want to see happen to something thatâs been so
important in my life. To me The Straight Edge is not only about abstinence from
drugs, alcohol and tobacco, but also about putting forth your best and trying
to make some kind of positive presence felt in this world, whether thatâs at
shows, at school, at work, or just hanging out. Furthermore, Iâm really bummed
to see that kids seem to be leaving the X behind because I feel it still an
extremely important thing. Its not just a sign of "This is what I believe" itâs
also a sign of hope, when I kid sees an older person with a X they know that
its something that can really last a lifetime, there is a path that doesnât
have to end with "True til 21". I always ask my older Straight Edge friends why
theyâve stopped Xing up and they almost always say the same thing, "I just
donât have anything to prove" and I find that kind of ironic, because I find
the pressure to drink and use drugs is far greater as I get older so in my mind
I have more things to prove now than I did when I was younger. I personally,
donât need drugs or alcohol; Iâm 31 and Iâm straight edge, and its more important
to me now than it ever has been.
Straight
edge and Hardcore arenât supposed to be safe or easy. The old lady in the mall
is not supposed to say "Oh straight edge is great" and parents arenât supposed
to "get" Hardcore.
Mike: What do you think about the reports coming out,
giving straight edge a bad name because of a few bad kids? What about Geraldo Rivera.
Aram: Straight
edge and Hardcore arenât supposed to be safe or easy. The old lady in the mall
is not supposed to say "Oh straight edge is great" and parents arenât supposed
to "get" Hardcore. Iâm not at all interested in social approval but, at the
same time I donât people out their ruining our name either nor do I want to be attached
to random violence. The reality is that there will always be factions in
Hardcore that are engaged in a struggle to build things up and to tear things
down. Thatâs just life, but I donât think that they way to deal with them is by
doing ANY kind of interview with mainstream media.. to me thatâs just people
trying to get some time in the spotlight. Every time I see some kid on TV, I
just have to ask myself "what are
you trying to prove?" nobody in
the mainstream media wants to present the real story, they want hype, so why
bother dealing with them in the first place?
Mike: When
you started in this band, what were your goals?
Aram: I just
wanted play some shows and then put out a 7 inch; we set really reasonable
goals and focused on each as they came. We recorded a demo and that was
amazing, we played some shows and that was amazing, we signed to a label, and
that was awesome. We just set
little goals and then checked them off as we went. Right now I just think that
too many people are trying to map our a "career" and I just have to say thisâ¦
HARDCORE learn to love it, learn to respect it, and give back as much as you
take.
Mike: What
are your favorite bands right now?
Aram: Some of
my favorite bands right now are, Have Heart, Down to Nothing, Triple Threat,
and The First Step; honestly if a band is Straight Edge, I generally love
them. Some other bands I have been
listening to are No Turning Back (from Europe), Blue Monday, Allegiance, Go it
Alone, Some Kind of Hate, Snake Eyes, Verse, Modern Life is War, Internal
Affairs, Lion of Judah, Death Before Dishonor, Paint it Black, Sinking Ships,
The Answer, Colin of Arabia, and Outbreak
Mike: Any shout outs?
Aram: Iâd like
to mention the following labels and zines and hope that everyone takes the time
to check them out: Bridge 9, Equal Vision, Rivalry Records, Deathwish Inc,
Malfunction, Youngblood Records, Bottled Up Records, Livewire Records,
Excursion Records, This Blessing this Curse Records, Think Fast! Records,
Organized Crime Records, Start Today Fanzine, Born to Hate Fanzine, and Not in
Vogue Fanzine
Mike: Last thoughts?
Aram: Hardcore is at a weird time right now. There is a lot of division, based on
sound, style, and ideals; there are so many sub groups between genres and
record labels its weird and I firmly believe that itâs a really negative thing
for hardcore as a whole. A good friend once told me, attitude creates division
so I would hope that people could try to see that weâre all a part of the same
thing and that ever crack that we let develop between us eventually becomes a
chasm that hold us apart.