Hey Chiqui, thank you for doing this interview! First off, tell me about your new project Ayanyss. How did the initial lineup come together, and then when did things shift from recording songs to becoming an active band that would play live?
The initial lineup of Harry, Frank and myself started one night outside of Brooklyn Bazaar at a Madball show. Frank and Harry were actively talking about making some music and they asked if I wanted to front the project. We finally got around to getting in the studio maybe 2018 with Nick B of Cold Front. We hashed out about 12 total songs, dropped two and backburnered the other two. We were set with a date in late February 2020 to go into the studio to record but the onset of COVID quickly shut that down. We were in a flux with no real rehearsal space and we still wanted to get the songs out there, so we started looking towards a monthly rental. We were able to scrounge up a monthly room and decided to produce, record and master all on our own out of Mixerhead Studios in College Point, Queens. In a matter of a few months, simultaneously writing new songs and directly recording we had our 8 songs for the EP. Nick and Harry were never too keen on playing out, while Frank and I always wanted to share the wealth. We’ve transitioned to Beto and John on guitars and drums respectively to get started on our live show ventures.
Where did the band name Ayanyss come from? Is there an advantage to picking a unique name where you’re not going to get mixed up with another band on Spotify or Discogs?
This was an epiphany manifested from the mind of Frank. He says it could mean anything. To me it’s an acronym – Act Your Age Not Your Shoe Size. This is more of a factual view of what the band means. For Frank, he can stay on the ethereal tip. But I guess we’re covered in the hardcore band with a weird name. I’m seeing a lot of weird HC band names popping up.
How would you describe Ayanyss? The Bandcamp summary references a “heavy groove and a vintage metal influence” but as I mentioned in the In Effect review, I think this is more of a hardcore record than what is reflected in the bio.
We’re a hardcore band no matter where we get our influences from. We’re all from a metal background and that shows through, but I think it’s got a lot of progressive tendencies as well. Granted as the songs follow the standard hardcore format, we’ve also made them a little longer with, I hope, avoiding too much repetition.
I saw that your first show is scheduled for September 12 at A7/Niagara. Do you have anything else lined up yet?
As of 8/9 we’re not scheduled for anything else, but we’ve also turned down shows as we’re not sonically ready to roll as a band yet while getting John and Beto acclimated fully.
Note: this show has been moved to Bowery Electric – see flyer below:
How did you get into umpiring, and what levels of baseball do you officiate? How do you feel about the recent umpiring-related changes in MLB, like replay?
I’ve always played ball as a kid, coached my son as he grew up and I’m currently playing softball (with Dimi, drummer from Skarhead). Right now I’m umpiring modified softball Sunday morning in Queens and hardly do any more baseball games. They don’t pay as much and the parents are fucking assholes. At least the adults playing softball know that they’re playing beer league softball, yet there remain a few souls that are just as delusional as the aforementioned parents. This was a way for me to stay in the game and it’s a completely different view as an arbiter of the game and not a participant. And I get paid!
The technology was always going to catch up to the sport as replay in the MLB was the last of the four major sports to enact it. It is such a rough sport to officiate but you hope the four guys out there are able to make the right call. I do like the exercise in shortening the game. I also think it’s just a matter of time until the fully automated strike zone.
What is the most significant baseball moment that occurred while you were at a hardcore show?
My sports hardcore memories are limited to Pro Football. During the CBs matinees I’d usually hang at the entrance and watch the Jets game if I wasn’t too interested in who was playing and if I was, I’d catch up on the game while waiting on the next band to set up. I don’t necessarily have a baseball moment per se but I did get beaned with a bottle of nail polish in the nose at a Slayer concert in 85!!! How’d I know it was nail polish? I was at the front of the stage and it hit off the bridge of my nose and landed on the stage.
What is your favorite baseball book or movie?
Eight Men Out by Eliot Asinof about the 1919 Chicago White Sox scandal, and the movie by the same name.
One Pitch Away by Mike Sowell – This one is crazy with some remarkable decisions in some of the most important games in history and how those decisions affected championship games. Did you know that in 1986, Boston Red Sox manager John McNamara always made a defensive switch at 1B by taking Bill Buckner out of the game and subbing him with Dave Stapleton late in the game? He decided to leave Buckner out there to celebrate the series win against the New York Mets.
The Complete Game – Ron Darling bio – Chapters are broken down by Ron’s most important inning he’s pitched in the pros or on the amateur level.
And Field of Dreams can suck it. How do you make this movie and fuck it up by making Joe Jackson a righty???
How many library cards do you own, and in what systems? And what is your favorite library?
One library card and it’s the Queens system. I’m gonna have to be partial to the library in Jackson Heights, Queens cause it’s the only library I’ve ever seen a metal band play live at.
Wait, tell me more about this metal show at the library …
The Queens library would always have special events in the back room off the entrance and they’d have a string quartet or a reading but they got talked into having a live band there and these kids were in there covering Metallica!!
This was the library’s community outreach program way back in the mid ‘80s. I was merely a visitor. I did book a few CBs shows back in the day.
I’m not sure how it went down with the last matinee nor the timeline, but late ‘89 into ‘90, I worked at Sloan’s supermarket on 1st & 5th on the Lower East Side. I was in that area so much attending HS, hanging at Alcatraz (on Ave A) or at someone’s house, it made sense to get a job down there, even though I lived in Queens. It ended up that Hilly from CBGBs shopped there and I’d see him every now and then, making sure to say hi. And after a number of rehearsed introductions and should or shouldn’t I’s, I approached him in the canned products aisle about kicking matinees back up. And with enough persistence, he let me book a few gigs at CBs. Connie, who was booking shows back then sorta apprenticed me for a little while and I ended up probably booking a year or so of matinees over there and Dmize got on a few of them shows. That Killing Time, Supertouch, Dmize, Burn show in 90 may have been the best, but not sure if it was the first I did there.
“Dying in Darkness” addresses the current political climate in that you want “to cross the aisle, but all the dopes are in denial.” How important is it for hardcore bands right now to identify what side of the aisle they’re on?
There’s so much disinformation that is intentional to keep us split. This is something that has been aggressively aimed toward the US for decades. It’s aimed to internally destroy what good aspects of this country that are left. And there aren’t many. Now political parties have pounced on these agendas for their own benefit and by keeping us at each other’s throats by politicizing what you think would be simple common sense shit they control the narrative. But also another 40% of the country is more in touch with influencers and a sordid array of nobodys that are famous for doing nothing. Like the populace, some hardcore bands may not care and then some, in this political climate, may have already been thrown to one side or another already. Just stand on what your beliefs are but first and foremost please know and understand what the fuck you’re talking about and go ahead an open your mind as well. As closed as you think one viewpoint may be, there could be something of sense in that myopic view.
What are some other major lyrical themes that appear throughout the album? Has your process of writing lyrics evolved since the Dmize era?
“Masques,” “Nothing but Lies” roll in the same theme as “Dying in Darkness” and we touch on a life’s journey through “Images.” “Hell to Pay” is a call to be an active citizen while “Decay” chronicles society today skating through life while it crumbles around us. On “The Forbidden” we dive into the macabre and Frank’s love of horror movies as an ode to Candyman. Lastly, in “Degeneration” is technology the real horror here?
Back in the Dmize era, I was writing something all the time, poetry, free writing, screenplays, haikus, limericks, lyrics. Back then pen and paper always, now I have to set aside time and force myself to write. It’s a bit tougher but again this isn’t life 24-7 as it was back then.
Do you think a Dmize reunion will ever happen? I remember you saying at one point that things almost fell into place around 2006?
I’m not sure that if it does happen that it’ll be a full reunion but it’s too early to say and who knows what can happen. I can say there are wheels in motion on the Dmize front. So stay tuned for that.
Any last thoughts you would like to share?
Political viewpoints notwithstanding, people should care about what is happening. Our institutions are failing us to hold people accountable and the media is only concerned about clicks and cash. So who can you believe? Believe historians who say hey this happened before we should watch what’s happening now. Research for yourselves and find a voice for whatever assbackward stance you want to grab onto. Just don’t find your viewpoint from a Facebook meme.