Bryan from Death Before Dishonor

Even though hardcore isn’t entirely up my street, this band is easily one of my all time favourites. To me Death Before Dishonor is a super self-empowering act. Many times I’ve been down, pissed off at something or someone, I’ve been able to find the solution, or at least the direction, listening to their tunes. I still haven’t seen them live, but that day will surely come too. A short talk with Bryan, their frontman, will have to do for now:

LC: Is there a scene going on in Boston these days? What are the kids into?

Bryan: Yea there definitely is a lot going on in Boston. Hardcore, punk, metal and hip hop are going strong. Boston is a huge college city, so we always get new kids that come in from all over and come to all types of shows. On top of that Boston has a great history in music so there’s always people from the older generations that still come out and support bands, venues etc. There’s a lot of great new bands in and around Boston nowadays such as Buried Dreams, Zero Hour, Kind Crew, Distressor, Years Apart, and Mickey Rickshaw to name a few.

LC: How is hardcore relevant in 2018?

Bryan: Hardcore will always be relevant in one way or another. I think especially in 2018 with the world being in a very divided place, it for sure makes hardcore even more relevant. Hardcore has always been a way (at least for me) to escape everything going on in the world, or a platform to let out the feelings of what is going on in mainstream society.

LC: Would you ever start a new band? What could make you do that?

Bryan: I have thought about it, it’s not out of the question for me to do something new and fun. I feel like it could be cool, at the same time DBD has always been my priority. It’s been a huge part of my life so the older I get with regular life responsibilities, it’s hard enough to do DBD let alone start a new project.

LC: Do you consider DBD an underground band? How do you measure success?

Bryan: We definitely are an underground band. We have been lucky enough to tour the world, had some successful releases, toured with a lot of legendary bands that we look up to and played some major festivals. All that is cool, but we still play DIY hall shows, we are pretty hands on with everything that goes on with DBD. We don’t have a manager and we currently book ourselves in the States. To me success is achieving your own goals and I feel like we have been able to do that. There’s still plenty more we would like to accomplish but I’m pretty happy with what we have been able to do this far!

LC: If you could go back in time, would you, for any reason, decide not to start dealing with music?

Bryan: No way, I have been super lucky to experience a lot of things in life because of music. I wouldn’t have been able to go to half of the places music has taken me to. There are times the music world gets overwhelming and frustrating but when all that hard work and struggle pay off it’s an amazing feeling!

LC: You are a fighter at heart - that much is evident from your lyrics. What is the biggest struggle of your life?

Bryan: Hmmm, I’ve been through a lot, and I’m pretty mellow the older I get. My life is great right now. I still feel like I’m different from people in mainstream society. I always have, that’s what drove me to hardcore. The older I get the more I have found ways to just deal with the regular world, even though I feel like I’m out of place in some way. I still have that feeling I had years ago where “I don’t fit in” with the world but that’s ok. I still go to shows and play in a band that will always be the world I fit into.

LC: What styles of music do you enjoy these days? Do you get any inspiration outside HC?

Bryan: I still love hardcore, and punk rock. I do find myself listening to a lot of old classic rock, old Hip hop. Anything that hits me I will listen to no matter what genre of music it is. Yea there’s a lot of stuff from classic rock to hip hop that gives me inspiration. Any music that feels real to me can get me inspired!

LC: It will soon be 10 years with no DBD LP. Got anything planned?

Bryan: Yes, we do. We have been talking about this for a while. We really wanted to release something last year, but it was a tough/busy year personally. We will for sure have new music out in 2019! We are just waiting to lock down the recording date and then we will let everyone know!

LC: What makes you smile?

Bryan: My wife, my family, my friends, hardcore, punk rock and stand up comedy!

Listen to: Death Before Dishonor - Fuck This Year