Verbal Assault ... where can I possibly start? This legendary hardcore band, from Newport, Rhode Island, lasted from 1983 to 1991. They were a unique band to say the least, with a distinctly different sound on each record and lyrics sometimes touching on social/political issues, sometimes focusing on the personal. There had not been a band like them before and there certainly hasn't been one similar since. Somehow though, hardcore history hasn't been as kind to them as one might expect, but this might change with the imminent reissues of all of their studio material. Singer Christopher Jones was kind enough to talk with me about VA this February. Keep your eyes open for the VA reissues; and for the complete history of the band, along with photos, flyers, etc., check out verbalassault.com
1) Wow, where do I start? Not to dwell on the past, but let's begin with a question about Verbal Assault. Verbal Assault to me represents an attempt at a paradigm shift in the hardcore scene, especially with the "Trial" LP. VA attempted to bring issues, advocacy, compassion and self-reflection into a scene that was sorely lacking these things. Am I correct? If so, do you feel it was a success?
Well, I'd certainly like to think so. The question itself is a compliment in it's own way. I think that you're probably right to start with Trial since, for me, that was when Verbal Assault started to come into its own as a band, losing some of our more derivative influences.
Whether it was a "success" or not is harder to answer. VA was just one band, and one that achieved only modest success when we were around (not that I'm complaining. It's just that we weren't Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys, etc.) I would like to think that we affected a positive influence, but I don't believe we single-handedly turned the HC scene on its head or something like that.
2) Verbal Assault broke up in 1991. So, what have you been doing these past 12 years? What direction is your life going in right now?
After the band broke up, I finished my BA in History from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. (A bit of HC trivia/history here: I was also housemates with Roger Maubury and Colin Sears of Dag Nasty, since we already knew each other from our respective bands and were all going to UMASS at the same time.) After I got my degree, Tom and Chris Gorman (bass and drums respectively in VA in 1987) were jamming with our friend Tanya Donelly (Throwing Muses) and formed Belly, who went on to do well for themselves in the mid-90's. I worked as a roadie/merch guy for them, and then eventually as their tour manager, which was a blast since they did a lot of touring, and it was a great way to see parts of the world that I never got to with Verbal Assault (Israel, Japan, New Zealand, etc.)
The past few years of my life have been pretty uneventful. I've been living in my hometown (Newport, RI), and working as a line cook to pay the bills (a job that I enjoy, though I don't consider it a career). I suppose I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, and since I'll be 35 in March, I'm not exactly sure when that is. But working on the VA rereleases has resparked an interest in graphic design and writing, so I suppose my direction will be somewhere along those lines.
3) Do you retain any connection to the hardcore scene of today? You're a pretty opinionated guy - do you have any opinions about it?
Not really, in the sense that I don't go to gigs really , or pick up any new music. On the other hand, most all of my closest friends are people that I met through VA, and the older I get the more I realize what a profound influence the music and the HC "scene" had and has on my outlook on the world. But I wouldn't want to venture an opinion about the "state of hardcore today", other than the fact that I'm pleased it's still around and kicking in one form or another.
4) Through our correspondence I've come to find out that you're an avid reader/news consumer and that you have a well-formed opinion on issues of national importance. Verbal Assault sort of served as a vehicle through which to express these opinions. Do you have any such avenues for expression in your life today? Are you involved in political activism of any kind? Any new musical projects?
Taking this in reverse order: (1) I never considered myself a musician, so I never really had any interest in a post-Verbal Assault project. (2) My political activism is much more feeble than I care to admit. I remain involved in Amnesty International, and voted Green in '00 since Rhode Island was a lock for Gore. (3) As far as "avenues of expression" go, right now that's mainly work with VA-related stuff (designing the website, writing the liner notes for the CD, etc.)
5) What's up with the Verbal Assault reissues - exactly what are they going to contain, what is the format, and when are they due out? Who is releasing them? Also, what precipitated this decision to rerelease all of this old material? What is the driving force or inspiration behind Verbalassault.com?
The idea is to eventually have all of our studio material out in chronological order, on two CDs. The first will have The Masses demo tape and the Learn EP; the second will have everything else since most of it has been/is on CD already. Since all of our stuff becomes more difficult to find as time goes on, this is our way of keeping the music out there. Also, we want both CDs to be much more about the Rhode Island scene than just our band, and hope to do that through the old fliers, pictures, and the liner notes that will come with the discs. I think we did a good job with the first one, but you'll be able to judge for yourself soon enough.
The CDs are coming out on Mendit Records from NYC, distributed through Lumberjack. This has been a part/"free" time project for everyone involved, so there have been a lot of delays (too many, really) in getting it going. In any case, the first CD comes out this spring, and who knows about the second (though I promise it won't take as long).
Verbalassault.com started as a way to promote the rereleases, and just to fool around, really. However, the feedback that we've gotten has been so positive that over time I've tried to make it the best "record" of VA that I can, and to give everyone an idea of what we were about (especially with the updated version, which includes video clips, a lot of MP3's, etc.)
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