Interview with Jimmy, Larry, JR, Jay

JP: Could you give us a little rundown on the history of Murphy’s Law?
Jimmy: Twenty years ago, on New Year’s Eve, we played with Reagan Youth, MDC, and a band called Heartattack, and it was just for a joke… now, twenty years later, we still play, without stopping, with different members, but it’s still the same spirit and the same party, same drinking and having fun!

JP: Where did the name Murphy’s Law come from?
Jimmy: It’s an Irish thing. We had the Murphy’s in our name long before the Dropkick guys did. It means that anything that can go wrong, will eventually go wrong…whatever’s gonna fuck up, it’s gonna fuck up. That’s the punkrock thing, anything’s gonna happen, you can’t help it…

JP: What about your name, Jimmy Gestapo? Where did this come from?
Jimmy: I’m the fascist leader of the Nazi Skinheads in NYC…

JP: Hahahaha! That’s exactly what we wanted to hear…
Jimmy: Haha, no no, it came from back when I was in 7th grade… I played in a band called Kraut and the guy playing the drums was Johnny Feedback… and I was like, what the hell is this? And he was like: “You need a name, a punkrock name! You know, like Sid Vicious or Johnny Rotten, a bad name!” – and we said: “what goes with Jimmy? Jimmy Bad Guy, Jimmy Puke, Jimmy Stupid, Jimmy Crazy, Jimmy Gestapo…” and I was like: “Whoa, Jimmy Gestapo, that’s a really bad name!” I’d never thought I’d go to Germany one day, and people would be offended and stuff... that’s why I chose the name though, cause it was offensive.... people that know me, know who I am, and the people that don’t, are offended… I’ll beat up the fascist movement of New York City, where’s my light-sword??!!

JP: Haha! So how has your tour been so far?
Jimmy: Good! We have a lotta naked women besides us, all day! And we do lots of expensive drugs like cocaine and heroine! And dancer girls fuck us while we drive to the show! No, seriously, it’s ok! This tour is going great! We have a record label in Paris, Age of Venus, a very small label. We’re doing this just for fun… no company sponsoring us, nothing.

JP: So how many shows did you already play?
Jimmy: 40! It’s been a six-week rush!
JR: Haha, no, it’s been like 11 or 12 shows up to now!
Jimmy: Yeah, in one day! In 40 shows, we have three days off…

JP: Haha wow, ya’ll are working class, so to speak!
Jimmy: Yeah, very much so! And when I’m not playing with the band, I fix elevators, I shine shoes…
JR: Oi!!!

JP: What do you think about hardcore nowadays? The scene in America, in Europe etc.?
Jimmy: It’s not hardcore anymore, man! It’s not on the streets! Hardcore is music that’s supposed to be from the streets. A lot of it doesn’t come from the streets anymore, lotta kids just wanna get signed to a record label… but you know, it’s hard for kids in America to hang out on the streets now, cause there’s too much police... in New York City, the rents in some boroughs – Queens, Brooklyn, even Manhattan – are so expensive, that kids can’t even hang out on the streets anymore... Hardcore was born in New York. I mean, my friend Dave used to live in the streets, I lived in a park, he lived in a van… and nobody bothered us. And we played in a club that was open almost 24 hours, so there was much more freedom... Now there’s not that much freedom anymore. Real estate in New York costs so much money now – even after September 11th. People will move away… Damn, JR, he looks like my brother John! You look like my brother haha!

JP: Really?
Jimmy: Yeah haha, very much so, you look like my brother!

JP: That’s funny! Where are your parents from?
Jimmy: My mother’s from Brooklyn, my father’s from the Lower East Side of Manhattan. My ancestors come from Germany, Italy, Poland and Czechoslovakia. My grandfather on my father’s side was German; his name was Drescher. My grandfather on my mother’s side, his name is Firovante, that’s Italian. And then my father’s mother’s name is Riba, Jenny Riba, it’s Polish. My grandmother on my mother’s side, her name is Juhovic, that’s from Slovakia.

Hier tauchen die zwei Zimmermänner auf, die sich kurz vorher noch mit Jimmy auf der Bühne an einem russischen Tanz versucht hatten.

JR: Jimmy is smoking a joint with Zimmermans! How you like that joint, Jimmy?
Jimmy: I like the Zimmermans! Man, you walk around for like three years, doing the trade, and people pick them up and take care of them… it’s an accomplishment!

JP: What you think about Switzerland?
Larry: It’s good! We’ve only been here one day now, but it’s great! It’s not very big, very nice people, we like it!

JP: What about most bands playing that metalcore stuff nowadays? What’s your opinion on that?
Larry: I think it kinda sucks, haha! Hardcore got away from its roots... it’s all that chugga chugga stuff….
JR: Yeah, weird tuning, bizarre patterns, the same tone over and over, too much tricks… kids nowadays just take what they think is hardcore, but it’s all wrong... ratatatata! I’m a punkrocker…

JP: Yeah, Hardcore and Punkrock is the same shit!
JR: Yeah, even back in the days, you had the skins and the punks, old school hardcore, old school punkrock, it was all the same fuckin thing!
Larry: Yeah I don’t even think that exists anymore…
JR: Like back in the days, you had bands that were supposed to be skinhead bands, but you had guys with mohawks in it...
Larry: IT JUST AIN’T THE WAY IT USED TO BE…! Haha! We were all in the same place, listening to the same music, drinking the same beer…

JP: So I assume you guys have been here in Europe before… What country do you like best?
Larry: That’s a hard question, everywhere I’ve been to, I had a great time, man! People outside of the band ask me why I do all this? Well we get a great response here in Europe, everywhere we play, there’s a lotta people coming to our shows, all kinds of people; we’re all having a blast, everybody hangs out, having a good time, drinking beer…

JP: You guys like soccer?
Larry: Nah, I watch hockey…

JP: What’s your favorite beer?
Jay: Hahaha, I’m an alcoholic! I don’t really have a favorite beer; I drink anything that comes in front of my face… I like to experience different things.

JP: What do you prefer then, weed or beer?
Everybody: BEER!!!!

JP: What do you think about all those reunions lately? All Out War, Madball, Life Of Agony, Darkside NYC (well for one show at least), rumors about a Crown Of Thornz-Reunion…
Larry: Madball is great! It’s a great thing, people getting back together, playing shows…
Jay: Madball rocks!
Larry: I don’t know about All out War… too many fuckin bands, listen to ZZ Top, motherfuckers!
Jay: Hahaha hell yeah!
Larry: Darkside? I didn’t know about that. Rich O’Brien (the singer) is a really close friend of mine, me and him had a band together for two years, but nothing ever came out. He was in, and we had Jim from Subzero on drums. We had our own rehearsal space on 1st Avenue – the band was called Devils For Islam. Rich, Jim and me actually wrote a whole bunch of songs but we never got anywhere... Devils for Islam was the heaviest band that ever lived!
Jay: Hahaha!
Larry: I have two dozens fucking rehearsal tapes. Rich O’Brien tapes EVERYTHING – which is good, but I never do. But if you play with him in a band... he tapes everything, he tapes when you talk, he tapes the WHOLE night. On his computer, he does the whole thing that tells you every little tiny thing that’s on every tape. He’s a really fanatical dude, a good guy. We did some good shit, but we never got to put anything out.

JP: Well I heard an album was gonna drop…
Larry: Really? Weird, I haven’t heard anything about that… I’ll have to look out for it…

JP: Rapcore acts like E-Town Concrete, Times Expired etc. – what do you think about them?
Larry: To be honest, I never heard anything from these bands before – they’re playing shows all over New York, but I never got to hear them. Not to be cool or anything, but I just don’t know. I grew up on old metal and rock’n’roll – Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin… I have two older brothers, so when I was 5 – I’m 33 now – I got into all that stuff through my older brothers.
Jay: Time goes by – every scene comes and every scene goes… it might me cool at the moment… but I don’t know…
Larry: Let’s put it that way, there’s bad hardcore, and there’s good reggae, there’s bad punkrock, and there’s good jazz music, whatever the fuck it is…. All those categories, I never understood it, I always liked all kinds of music, I like some metal bands, I like some big bands… My favorite band is still Murphy’s Law though, I’ve seen them more often than I’ve seen any other band… I’ve known Jimmy for like 16 or 17 years… I was in a band called Stay Clear, something came out in Germany on that label by the Ox-Fanzine, I don’t know if anyone ever heard of that band… Later, I formed Inhuman with Mike Scondotto…

JP: Man, I love Inhuman!
Larry: Yeah they’re very good… They’re a great band and they’re all still friends of mine, but I had to get out, they were younger, they had different influences, and a lot of what they wanted to do were things that I’ve had already done.. We had a great time, played a few shows… But they’re so much better now…

JP: Mike’s brother runs Castle Heights, right?
Larry: Yeah, and his other brother Mark is in Shutdown, they’re like the Brooklyn hardcore family… Me and Mike… he’s twenty-something, I’m 33 years old, he was into black metal, I like Lynyrd Skynyrd, you know? And then after that I got to know Rich from Darkside, Mike, Lou from Subzero… Jimmy Colletti (from Agnostic Front), I’ve known him for a long time. He lives with me; I guess that’s where he still lives. I’ve known him for a while, since he was playing in Zombula 451. That’s the band that wrote that AF song “Gotta Go”! Jimmy wrote it for Zombula… 5, 6 years before it appeared on that Agnostic Front album.

JP: OK, any last words?
Larry: Thanks for the interview, man, it’s a great place here, and whenever you hit New York, make sure to come visit the NY Hardcore Tattoo Shop (www.hardcorenyc.com) and say hi.

JP: Thanks to you guys for the interview!

By Jean

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