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Pat Flynn - Have Heart, The Straight Edge, Pos, ... Beano!?!?!?
  -- Monday, April 02, 2007


"My favorite 7 Seconds shirt getting destroyed"

Pat Flynn is a dude. In every sense of the word. I first learned about Pat Flynn a few years back. I had got an Action Taken demo and was pretty stoked. Then I began hosting a website for this new band called Have Heart. After a while, they moved on to this new site called MySpace, but for a while, it was great hosting this positive, straight edge band's site. During their tenure on HYE, they boosted the hell out of my site stats. Now Pats all grown up (haha) but definitely still young til he dies. When you see Pat at the next show (because he goes to every single one, and is always up front singing along), make sure to say what's up and give him a pat on the back. The following interview is filled with some random, funny shit. Enjoy. Please note, all captions by Pat Flynn.

Yo, Pat Flynn, how's your edge?

-dude, my edge is almost too strong. people might start thinking im taking artificial enhancers for my edge. rest assured, this edgeman is all-natural.

How did it all begin for you?

-I was born on july 6th, 1985...everything from then until i was 13 or 14 is completely meaningless. thats because during that time i was what one would call a "norm", aka, didn't know what hardcore was. I think it was the summer of '99 I went to my first hardcore show in New Bedford, MA at this sweet place called "Reflections". I believe the lineup was Beyond Authority (feat. Joseph Hawk of RnR fame, sweet, right?), Before I Break, All Chrome and Grey Area. Not exactly a show of the most well-known bands, but that show sent me spiraling down a path of righteousness (aka hardcore)

"This is my ipod that I'm trying to sell because i dont believe in technology. I'm a Luddite and I need money"

When did you fully realize what straight edge was? And what does it mean to you now?

-my Mother actually got me into straight edge. Which I'm sure sounds like the lamest possible way to be introduced to straight edge. But how it went was my mother showed me an article of "skate-boarder-looking guys" who didn't do drugs. The article was of TYF and In My Eyes actually. At that point (as a serious 12 or 13 year old punk rocker) I knew that Minor Threat had a song called 'straight edge', but I didn't know there was a culture in existence (o' how lost i was). So anyway, like 8 or 9 years later I'm still straight edge. I look at it in a way in which my edge is the only one that matters. Of course I will curse the fakes to a doomed life, but I won't exclude non-edgemen or edgebreakers who smoke weed for medicinal purposes.

Let's talk about the Action Taken. Who was in that band and what did you guys do?

-The Action Taken was a band from New Bedford, MA who played there, and only there every weekend from 2000 to 2002. I think we played ONCE outside of MA in Rhode Island. The band consisted of Me and Ryan Hudon (fellow HH-man) on vocals and three other members whose names were once on the HYE Edge-Break list...never knew who put them on there, hm. Anyway, we were an uber-youth crew band in the peak of our glory. The soon-to-be edge breaks wanted to start playing other styles of music though, and Ryan and I were eventually given the serious boot. Ryan and I had HH in the works, so all was well. And since the ugly demise of TAT, all former members are at ease with each other. Our claim to fame was our review in the highly praised 'Hows Your Edge Review Section'

"Mr. Ryan Hudon and I shredding the mics when we were 7 years old."

What bands get you psyched these days? Psyched on the edge and psyched on the core?

-Psyched on the core in general, I find myself anticipating the arrival of the WASTE MANAGEMENT demo. Its features righteous gentlemen of the NBHC and Say Goodbye. So far I have heard practice space recordings and seen one performance. The word 'raw' comes to mind when I think of them. Stripped of a lot of that hardcore BS. I like my hardcore slow and heavy, I also like it fast and heavy as well. So I look forward to WASTE MANAGEMENT pleasing my taste for fast, raw, intense, and heavy hardcore.

"The soul of all souls, Mattdude of Soul Control singing for HH"

SOUL CONTROL is another new hardcore band that gets me stoked. They're the kinda band that makes you turn the treadmill up to 10 mph when you already feel 8 mph is enough, ya know what i mean? I thinks its the combination of their lyrics and music that's making me run so much faster these days. A band that gets me stoked on the edge (perhaps most important piece of the core), hands down I have to say DOWN TO NOTHING. They come from the Richmond, VA straight edge scene. Seeing them play anywhere is fucking great. Always energetic, positive and fun. BUT, seeing them play in RICHMOND, fuck...great straight edge scene they got there. Best straight
edge band around. DTN always X's up, keeps straight edge in the wholesome fashion, supports the core and other scenes. More bands need members like the guys in DTN.

Suppose I gave you a straight edge, hardcore time machine. Which show would you attend and why?

a) Oct 17, 1999. Karma Club Boston, National Edge Day
b) A show featuring YOT, Judge and Bold at the Anthrax
c) May 8th 1998 @Reflections New Bedford Mass: Smacking Isaiah, Grade, All
Chrome, and Hot Water Music, where kids were stage diving and moshing for HWM

-Well, I have pretended to be at shows A) and B) so many times in my room by moshing and diving on to my bed that I feel like I can actually say that I have been to those shows so, I have no option but C, but not by default. I live for HWM, if it wasn't for them...I don't think I would have facial hair.

What was the band Beano all about? How many shows were played? Any releases to look out for?

-Beano was about expressing yourself through terribly played music by 12 or 13 year olds who didn't know what guitars or drums actually were, but knew they LOVED Blink182. Look out for the split 7" of Beano / 4 Bob Doles (feat. Sean McCentury of Shipwreck/GU fame and Dan Dole of GU fame). To be released Edge Day 42.

"Me, Jim from Champion and JD from Shipwreck in Seattle. Thats my roomate Sean McCentury from Shipwreck in the background. He's not a singer so he wasn't included in the cool singer guy photo."

What was your favorite show to play, and why? Also what about your favorite to attend?

-To Play: It's a tie between 11.12.06 in California and 3.2.07 in Boston. The show in Boston was with BANE and just felt like one of those classic Boston-Bane shows. And I have loved me some BANE my entire life, so to play a show in Boston with kids going fucking nuts the entire show, feels like some type of achievement. The show in Cali was perfect. We LOVE Cali. The kids out there are the fucking best....animals with stage diving and sweet moshing. I remember at one point when the kids were all on stage singing along completely forgetting I was the singer of the band and thinking I was singing along to some other band with other kids. That spirit of hardcore is what I love best...the interconnectedness of the kids and the bands.

"Reflections revisited circa 2K6. Thats me being a total pussy in a Down But Not Out shirt...i suck."

To Attend: I like shows to be eclectic. If I can get a good thrash band like xfilesx playing with a perfect youth crew band like In My Eyes, and throw in a heavy band like Shipwreck, with kids going off the whole time. Then I'm siked. I'm even MORE siked if there aren't any mo-mo's who show they have something to prove by shitting on all the bands playing or punching attentive by-standers in the face, or anywhere for that matter.

Have Heart has been having a great run. 2007 seems like it is the year for Have Heart to blow up big. What's scheduled for the upcoming year? Big plans?

-I graduate from college this semester and the other guys are down to fuck their jobs and semesters and tour for a loooong time. We're going to Japan in May. Then we head out with SOUL CONTROL and SINKING SHIPS for the first half of the summer in the US, and then with Rise and Fall for the second half. Then we go back to Europe with Bane. THEN we go to Brazil and Columbia , and then do ANOTHER US tour, and we then go to AUSTRALIA. This will span from May 23rd to December 24th with some off-weeks in between. Lets hope we don't end up dying somehow in the process.

"Ryan and i giving a mannequin some shit in London"

Where would you like to go with Have Heart going forward? And not just in the sense of tours, but releases and attitude too.

-I know we are going to write a second LP that will hopefully be out summer 2008 and at least a split with a sweet band. As for attitude, PMA my friend, PMA.

Which would you rather?

a) Own a blood stained knife?
b) Own a tmobile sidekick?
-Does the knife have the blood of a sidekickER on it?

a) Break the edge?
b) Punch a baby for giggling?
-Is the baby an edge breaker?

a) Text message a friend from a show?
b) Say something negative about a band while on stage?
-Is the band Nickelback?

a) listen to Nickelback?
b) listen to Youth Of Today?
-Hey, just because a man jokingly knows every word to every nickelback song ever written doesn't make him a fan. Nor does going to see them live or buying their new record and condemning all his friends that condemn them. I don't know why such a question would be posed.

Is it true, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?

-To make sure no one thinks I broke edge in Vegas I will answer this. An ex-girlfriend/best friend + friend who still likes his ex-girlfriend/best friend + extra money from tax returns + a night in Vegas with NOTHING to do + a good sense of humor = a joke but yet real Marriage in the same chapel Britney Spears was married in. Which ULTIMATELY equals a legal divorce and a reformed relationship with ex-girlfriend/now-current stellar girlfriend.

"this is my girlfriend meryn with her mentally retarded friend charles"

What music have you been giving a lot of play lately? How (if it does) does it get shifted when you are chilling with a special lady?

-As of late NO COMMENT has been receiving a lot of rotation, along with I RISE. When my special lady comes around, I'm sure a little bit of Odetta and Billie Holiday may get some play, hopefully Pat Flynn will too.

How important is a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle in terms of the hardcore scene?

-In terms of the hardcore scene, I'd like to think that it has the potential to make the scene a little bit more conscious caring, rather than being kinda directionless or apathetic. There are other avenues to stay active, but the vegetarian lifestyle certainly help fuel an active scene.

"This is me and Dave from DTN sharing a stage dive together @ TIFY Fest in Florida. We also shared the pain of people stomping on us after the 'duet-dive' attempt failed miserably."

Personally, how important is it to you? When are you going veg again?

-Haha, I'm what a vegetarian George Bush would call "a flip-flopper". But I haven't really considered myself a vegetarian since like 2001. I just practice the diet every 4 or 5 months. I'd like to master it. I find myself feeling really healthy when I'm in the prime of my vegetarian periods...but alas, i usually fall prey to the smell of chicken. But so much meat out there just ain't good for you in most of the ways it's cooked, so hopefully one day I can master the trade.

For those that don't know, can you explain the significance of the "Hardcore > Shoes" record release shirt HxH made?

- Our good friends made a JOKE T-shirt that had a bunch of nike-dunks on the front and on the back of the shirt it read "shoes > hardcore". So for our record release, WE decided to make some shirts that had classic records from bands like the faith, infest, yot, outspoken, bold, unbroken, void, minor threat, citizen's arrest, etc. on it, and have it read "Hardcore > Shoes". GU found it funny, kids hopefully checked out some of our favorite bands, mission accomplished.

"This is Kei Yasui and a diseased leper"

Top 5s

a) Current Releases
1) soul control "demo"
2) waste management "the practice space records that i have heard so far"
3) verse "from anger and rage"
4) i rise "demo"
5) ceremony "violence, violence"

b) Pre 2005 Releases
1) 7Seconds "walk together, rock together"
2) Minor Threat "out of step"
3) Youth of Today "WNITA"
4) In My Eyes "the difference between"
5) Outspoken "the current"

c) Current Bands
1) down to nothing / verse
2) shipwreck
3) ceremony
4) soul control
5) step forward

d) Broken up by 2005 Bands
1) count me out
2) what feeds the fire
3) champion
4) mental
5) blink 182

e) Shirts (any era)
*not a huge shirt guy, but i have three favorites:
1) in my eyes ''est. 1997''
2) 7Seconds 'walk together, rock together"
3) embrace 'weird little design thing'

"Me pretending to be Sweet Pete at the last Guns Up show"

Which end of the Mic do you prefer to be on? It seems that at every show, you are frequently on both ends. How do you keep your enthusiasm level so
high?

-You just gotta actually LISTEN to the bands. Most bands at first aren't all that great. But if you take a small amount of time to really appreciate what bands are writing, you'll its something worth moshing/diving for. I have no preference as for what side of the mic I'm on, as long as I'm in a room with a mic, hardcore kids, instruments, then I'm set.

Any closing thoughts, shout outs or positive mental attitude statements?

-I sat down to write my senior thesis paper, instead I did this interview. Why? because I've been reading HYE since I was like 15. So Brian Murphy, thank YOU for giving me a reason NOT to do my work that I'm probably continue to procrastinate on doing for the next 4 or 5 hours. It really is...a healthy obsession.

Editor's Note: Thanks Pat!! And ps. Pat sent me all these pics. If you took one and want credit, get at me and I'll credit you.

Editor's Note Pt 2: I asked this question of Pat, but received no response.

Who has a more ridiculous (lack of) haircut? Briggs or Nicky I Rise? Would Have Heart be interested in playing The Haircuts for Hardcore benefit?

"Briggs and Ryan in all their long-haired glory, off-setting the extreme YC of my IT'S OKAY...shirt. Fuck."

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Posted by hows yr edge at 4/02/2007 10:35:00 AM

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