Freddy Madball Part 2: 1995 - 2026

Summary

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HardLore Podcast Summary

Episode: Freddy Madball Part 2: 1995 – 2026
Release Date: April 2, 2026
Hosts: Colin Young and Bo Lueders (Knotfest)
Guest: Freddy Madball (Madball, New York Hardcore legend)

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Episode Overview

Part two of the HardLore deep dive with Freddy Madball picks up in 1995 and stretches through Madball’s evolution into the 2000s and beyond. The conversation centers on the band's early years navigating massive festivals, Madball's role within the New York Hardcore legacy, the ever-changing face of hardcore, and Freddy’s personal journey through music, family, and the complexities of the hardcore scene. The episode is packed with firsthand accounts, scene lore, and candid reflections.

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Key Topics and Insights

Dynamo Open Air 1995: Baptism by Fire

• [01:27–09:35]
  • Madball’s set at the legendary Dynamo Festival in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
  • Freddy recalls being a "green" new band, unprepared for a Guinness Book world-record-sized crowd.
    • “We were just figuring ourselves out still. We were green, man. We had never played a festival… it was massive.” (Freddy, [02:10])
  • Freddy was extremely sick, but the show’s energy was unforgettable, even if not their tightest performance.
  • Iconic mishaps: a derailed song when fans took the mic ("Crucify") and the humor and reality of treating the massive fest just like a hardcore show.
    • “We treated it like just a hardcore show. How else are we gonna treat it?” (Freddy, [06:17])
  • Contrast between Madball’s rough-around-the-edges presentation and the rising professionalism in festival setups.

The Evolution and Roots of Hardcore Moshing

• [10:05–15:53]
  • Moshing from 1980s to modern “karate mosh” styles.
  • Freddy lists the NYC innovators—Minus, Saab, John Watson, Rap Bones, and more.
    • Discusses the evolution from circle and “creepy crawl” to spin kicks and windmills.
  • “There were guys that were great at that. John Watson... was a standout guy from like the earlier period.” (Freddy, [11:20])

New York Hardcore Documentary and the 1990s Scene

• [15:53–19:42]
  • Reflections on the NYHC doc and Coney Island High show.
    • “...someone had the bright idea to document it, and it was great.” (Freddy, [16:43])
  • Sudden spike from intimate shows to scene resurgence mid-90s, emergence of beatdown with Bulldoze.
  • “We’re just Madball, bro. Like, just deal with it... We're not beat down. Beat down is Bulldoze.” (Freddy, [18:36])

Community, Loyalty, and Scene Shifts

• [19:42–30:41]
  • Narratives around central scene figures like Rick to Life, friendship, accountability, and how allegiances changed over time.
  • Reflections on intergenerational respect, identity, and legacy.
    • “I will forever be a defender of the core and the culture, you know, and like protector.” (Freddy, [28:10])
  • The passing of tradition—seeing Freddy’s daughter sing “It’s My Life” at Punk Rock Bowling, her organic connection to Agnostic Front’s “Victim in Pain.”

Key Madball Records: Sound, Style & Roadrunner Years

• [35:29–44:00, 57:53–67:05]
  • Demonstrating My Style (1996):
    • “We kind of have our own sound going by this point... more defined and refined.” (Freddy, [35:42])
  • Look My Way (1998):
    • A darker, more hands-on production process, lineup changes, and the decline of Roadrunner’s direct support as the label shifted mainstream.
  • Hold It Down (2000, Epitaph):
    • Marked a new era, with Freddy the most comfortable with his vocals and Madball’s identity: “I always felt...if I had to pick a record...it would probably be Hold It Down.” (Freddy, [74:02])
  • Ongoing importance of European audiences and festivals to the band's growth and longevity.
    • “Having the opportunity to play those festivals just extends your life...” (Freddy, [44:46])

Hardships, Hiatus, and Personal Growth

• [80:02–88:54]
  • Madball’s “breakup” in the early 2000s, internal issues, legal troubles, and Freddy’s personal struggles.
  • The impact of 9/11: poignant family memories (photo on Brooklyn rooftop), support networks in the scene, and how tragedy temporarily softened New York.
    • “It gave people that dose of like, humility and also humanity... some camaraderie with the people of New York.” (Freddy, [87:30])

The 2004 Return, Legacy, and Modern Era

• [89:02–121:13]
  • Family becoming a grounding influence; Madball reforms shortly after Freddy’s wife and family see him perform at CBGB's for the first time.
  • Legacy and new records (like Legacy, Infiltrate the System) showing Madball could create lasting new material decades in.
  • Culture of authenticity: “It always feels good when you see a band that gets it and delivers it... love when I see those bands that get it.” (Freddy, [96:46])
  • The value of European hardcore’s loyalty versus American scene trendiness.

Later Years, Influence, and the State of Hardcore

• [121:13–139:22]
  • Madball in the 2010s: managing line-up changes, balancing family and music, and adapting to aging as a touring band.
  • For the Cause (2018), working with Tim Armstrong, and keeping the music fresh yet still true to Madball.
  • The Tompkins Square Park show after the pandemic—a proud moment in standing up for hardcore’s communal spirit despite controversy.
    • “It was one of my proudest moments doing Mad Ball. For the statement that we made doing it.” (Freddy, [126:38])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Don’t forget where this comes from. Don’t forget the roots of the music and the bands like Agnostic Front, who literally paved the roads that we all walk on.” — Freddy, [00:00 & 140:12]
• “We knew nothing else. Chords were flying out of speakers. We didn’t have long enough cords... we were wild, man.” — Freddy, on Dynamo 1995, [08:40]
• “We’re just Madball, bro. Like, just deal with it, you know... we're not beat down. Beat down is Bulldoze.” — Freddy, [18:36]
• “Once you got [Europe], I mean, you know, but that keeps you honest, right? Because it’s not just hype driven.” — Freddy, [99:05]
• “Hardcore’s so weird. Now. There you go.” — Freddy, reflecting on band reunions and scene cycles, [92:42]
• “It’s repetition, man. It's just because I’ve been doing it as long as I’ve been doing it... That’s part of it; if I can’t do it on a certain level... that would probably factor into me not doing [Madball] anymore.” — Freddy, on stamina and longevity, [118:22]
• (On future) “I see positive things. I see upwards movement. ...especially with the state of hardcore now. It's never been better.” — Freddy, [121:13]
• “Cheers, guys.” (sign-off, [141:49])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Dynamo Festival stories: [01:27–09:35]
• Moshing & NYC Innovators: [10:05–15:53]
• NYHC Documentary & Venue history: [15:53–19:42]
• Category debates: Beatdown/Tough Guy: [18:06–19:42]
• Scene figures and drama: [19:42–28:41]
• Family legacy—Freddy’s daughter and roots: [30:28–34:12]
• Demonstrating My Style & Look My Way albums: [35:29–67:05]
• Reunion, touring, and changing times: [80:02–99:41]
• European vs. US hardcore cultures: [99:41–105:24]
• Games & quick-associations (“name a word”): [105:55–108:39]
• Later years, maintaining the band, touring, & food: [110:43–136:41]
• New album (Not Your Kingdom) preview: [129:12–131:36]
• Favorite hardcore records: [137:16–138:43]
• Final words on legacy, roots, and respect: [140:12–141:48]

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Additional Highlights

• On Turnstile Winning a Grammy:
  “God bless them. Good for them, man...as long as they don’t forget where they come from, they never will, then it’s all good.” ([104:21])
• On the future of Madball:
  “I don’t see an end in the very near future... we all feel good. I got a great group of guys.” ([117:08])
• On new record (Not Your Kingdom):
  “It’s a very throwback vibe... but it’s also current. It’s by far the most diverse Mad Ball album.” ([129:12])
• Top 4 Hardcore Records:
  “Victim in Pain, Brightside, Sheer Terror’s Thanks for Nothing, Negative Approach’s Total Recall.” ([137:16])

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Tone & Style

The conversation is loose, animated, and filled with camaraderie and reverence for hardcore’s roots. Freddy’s tone is candid and no-nonsense but warm, especially when discussing family, lineage, and the legacy of the scene (“I will forever be a defender of the core and the culture...”). Hosts Colin and Bo keep the dialogue lively, peppering in deep-dive questions, scene trivia, and genuine appreciation for Madball’s iconic role. Frequent humor, scene references, and heartfelt nostalgia permeate the episode—an essential listen for hardcore fans and scene observers alike.

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Transcript

[Freddy Madball]

Something I've been saying for years. And I'll say to the new generation, I love the new music that's coming out. I love all these new bands. I love that they're all doing their own thing and there's so much freedom to do your own thing. But don't forget where this comes from. Don't forget the roots of the music and the bands like Agnostic Front, who literally pave the roads that we all walk on.

[Interviewer 1]

Hello, welcome. It's Hard Lore time. Welcome back to part two of this incredible two part special with the great Freddy Madball. If you haven't watched last week, go back and check it out. We get into fighting hardcore at 7 years old through Agnostic Front and his brother Roger. We talk about starting Mad Ball when he was 12. Ball of destruction, Dropping Many Suckers. And of course, the great debut LP set it off. Now this week, part two. We start right around 1995 when Madwal played the legendary Dynamo Open Air Fest. Enjoy.

[Interviewer 2]

March 6, 1995. Mad Ball plays Dynamo in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Big one certified Guinness Book biggest one Guinness Book largest crowd in the history of the world.

[Freddy Madball]

Wow.

[Interviewer 2]

What was.

[Freddy Madball]

That's crazy when you put it like that. It was a big crowd, I say.

[Interviewer 2]

I mean, I watched it last night because I wanted to make sure I got one thing right that I'm gonna ask you about that I've been wanting to talk to you specifically about for like 20 years.

[Freddy Madball]

Sure.

[Interviewer 2]

First, before we get to that, like, what was that? Like, it is the biggest sea of people I've ever seen in my life.

[Freddy Madball]

It was shocking, man, to be honest, because, like, we're just coming up, you know, like, we're just. We're a new band.

[Interviewer 2]

95.

[Freddy Madball]

We're a new band. Like, we're like. Even though, like people think like, oh yeah, that's prime Mad Ball. I mean, we're just, we're like just figuring ourselves out still. Like we just dropped, set it off. Like, we're still figuring this out. I don't feel like I was like, as a front person. Where I'm at now is different. Like everything you know, like, like, you know, you grow, you evolve, you figure, you figure, you figure this thing out. We were green, man. We were green. We had never played a. I don't think we had ever played a festival, to be quite honest. Like, we had. I don't like, not only was it one of the bigger shows we had ever played up to that point as madball, but it was, it was massive.

[Interviewer 1]

Well, many bands say it's the biggest show they've ever played.

[Freddy Madball]

That is the biggest show we've ever played still. And we've gotten the good fortune to play a lot of big, cool festivals. I mean, we've been on festivals together, but, like, that one was something else.

[Interviewer 2]

That one's crazy.

[Freddy Madball]

That one was something else. I attribute that show a lot. And not to knock Mad, they were our agent at the time, and I think that Roadrunner played a heavy role in the reason we played that show. We were on Roadrunner. We were in big company of people, and if you look at that lineup, it's.

[Interviewer 2]

It's crazy.

[Freddy Madball]

Heavy road.

[Interviewer 1]

Crazy. Yeah, big time.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, big time.

[Interviewer 2]

It's basically Roadrunner Fest.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, basically. So, yeah, it was crazy, man. And we were just like. It was horrible. Like, we were horrible.

[Interviewer 2]

Well, I read you were sick as a dog.

[Freddy Madball]

I was sick as a dog. I was like, that was probably the last time I was sick. But, you know. But no, I mean, no, I. You know, like, it was just one of those things where, like, the road. Yeah. Flying bad, you know, eating poorly, drinking too much. And we hung out with the business. I think the night before, that's gotta

[Interviewer 1]

be some real party.

[Freddy Madball]

Played like, London.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Underworld or something, which we still play. And then we're like, hey, we're off to do this festival tomorrow. I wonder what that's gonna be like. And they're like, oh, yeah, good luck. You know, like. And then, you know, and then, like, we drive through the night from England. Cause I'm wearing a. I'm pretty sure I'm wearing a business shirt.

[Interviewer 2]

I think you start in a business shirt.

[Freddy Madball]

I start in a business shirt and end up. Yeah. I always ended up with my shirt off.

[Interviewer 1]

Disrobe.

[Freddy Madball]

Them days are over. I don't do that anymore. But back then, that was commonplace. Yeah. We were hanging out with our homies and we had, you know, we had become friends with those guys. Great guys. I mean, legends in their own right. And so I was, like, feeling, like, terrible. All of a sudden I woke up and I'm like, great, we're about to play this festival. I've never done a festival. Never done a show this big, but I still didn't know the scope of how big it was going to be. I. I'm thinking it's going to be a festival. It's going to be a lot of people. Okay. They're going to be scattered about.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

And they're not going to give two shits about us. Yeah. That's what I'm Thinking in my head. Not to be negative, but I'm being realistic.

[Interviewer 1]

Sure.

[Freddy Madball]

They get me out of my bunk. I'm sleeping a lot because it was a long night. And also, I feel like crap. And they're like, all right, man. You got to play, like, early, you know, because we're like, you know, I don't know when our set time was, but it was in the day. And, yeah, I go. I walk out there. I don't think I saw the amount the people until it was time to play.

[Interviewer 1]

Holy shit.

[Freddy Madball]

I don't think I even peaked. Oh, no. So I get my stuff together, my shorts. Put my shorts on. I get ready for, you know, for stage. And I walk up and I look like, what? Yeah, like. And they're there. Yeah, yeah. Cause, you know, like, you know, they're all the way smashed to the front, so it's not like they're back and scattered and getting food. And, like, you know, what's this band gonna. You know, they're there ready for us. And so, yeah, we. We just went and we did what we do, man. And it was just like. We treated it like just a hardcore show. How else are we gonna treat it?

[Interviewer 2]

And speaking of that. And this is the thing I wanted to talk to you about. About halfway through, you play Crucify.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

A couple guys come out and hold a mad ball flag, and then they sing along, song gets derailed a little bit. Do you recall?

[Freddy Madball]

Well, the guys were Nicky the Knife and Ingo.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay.

[Freddy Madball]

Ingo. Nicky the Knife was one of our guys, of course, with a name like Nicky the Knife.

[Interviewer 1]

Wonder who gave him that.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, he's actually a guy who grew up with Will Shepler. Pittsburgh, but he moved to New York, and he's a homie. He was on the road with us. Great guy. Ingo was our friend from Germany, one of the Berlin crew and Old Timer, and he was on the road with us doing. I don't know what. I can't remember exactly. I don't think he was doing anything. I think he was just hanging out. But they carried it. And then. Are you talking about when the guy sang?

[Interviewer 2]

I don't know. Yeah. I couldn't tell if it was those two guys singing, but someone came up and took Hoya's mic.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And started singing, but started too early.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

So there's hitting the chorus over that lap. The second half of the verse.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

It derails. Everybody stops.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

At the end of the set, you say, meet me after the fucking show.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, my God.

[Interviewer 2]

And I just Want to know where?

[Freddy Madball]

Where are we meeting? Where are we meeting? Was that on stage or. I think that happened when I was down with the mic. Like, think he grabbed, like. I think someone. I feel like someone snagged a mic from somewhere. Me or whatever. And, like, sang it all wrong. But, yes, it derailed the song. At the time, we were super touchy. We had never done this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, like, we're being put on this

[Interviewer 1]

huge, you know, the biggest pedestal, like

[Freddy Madball]

this huge platform to play, and, like, we're nervous and, you know. You know. Yeah, yeah. Who the hell did they know what I was thinking? No, they didn't. I was like, no, asshole. I was like, it's okay to sing along, but, like, get it right. Don't mess up the song. I forgot what I now was like, yeah, meet me. I don't know what I said. Stupid kid stuff, dummy.

[Interviewer 2]

The reason I even bring it up is not even to laugh about.

[Freddy Madball]

It's funny, though. It is funny. I hear that.

[Interviewer 2]

It is, and I'm glad you can look at it that way, but it is. It is actually to give an example to the fact that you treated it like a hardcore show. Oh, yeah, yeah. It fucking derailed. That happens.

[Freddy Madball]

We knew nothing else. You know what I mean? I mean, chords were flying out of speakers. We didn't have long enough cords.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, there's no wireless.

[Freddy Madball]

Clearly didn't have wireless. I mean, they. They probably exit. Yeah, they probably existed, but we didn't have them. And.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, a sure product prototype.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, exactly. I think Biohazard had them. Yeah, we didn't have them.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah. Well, he's got a spin.

[Freddy Madball]

We're the poor guys. We were wild, man. Like, it was like. Like, you know, the guys coming across with the little teeny banner this big. It's so fun, everybody.

[Interviewer 1]

It's not like it's immortalized, though.

[Freddy Madball]

Everybody's got banners the size of this room, you know, but, like, we were like. We were just. Like, that's what we were, man. And, like, I think wasn't our best show. I didn't feel my best. Wasn't the best. Smoothish rollout. But people still talk about that show and, like, in a fond way, like, in a positive way, which is like, okay, cool.

[Interviewer 2]

Hey, good Mad ball at Dynamo is like an iconic.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, well, it put a lot of people onto our band. And I meet people all the time that are like, I know about you guys from Dynamo.

[Interviewer 2]

You're the only guy who played that stage who's slamming on stage, who's slam Dancing, you know what I mean?

[Freddy Madball]

I didn't even send it off.

[Interviewer 2]

Starts and you're fucking.

[Freddy Madball]

You're going for it.

[Interviewer 2]

You're the only person you know.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, I didn't think about that.

[Interviewer 2]

Think about it. That's an important thing.

[Freddy Madball]

And if you didn't know, if you're not from that world and don't know that, I guess you're like, what's this guy doing? What's this guy doing?

[Interviewer 1]

Should we talk about moshing real quick?

[Interviewer 2]

A perfect, perfect segue.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay. Moshing. What an insane evolution it had from the early 80s to even now the rise of like the karate mosh in hardcore.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Do you. Do you watch that happen in real time?

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, for sure.

[Interviewer 1]

Who do you attribute to as the innovators of mosh style? Like modern, modern and you know, late 80s 90s. Who are the guys who set who you saw?

[Freddy Madball]

Minus is one of them. Minus and Saab, they're in the mix of that. Kevin,

[Interviewer 1]

who do you think? Who was the first guy you ever saw spin kick that?

[Freddy Madball]

I don't know.

[Interviewer 2]

We love that.

[Freddy Madball]

I don't know.

[Interviewer 2]

We love to ask people who would

[Freddy Madball]

have been there, you know, I definitely remember like that started coming into play. Cause I remember watching people mosh the old, you know, the old. In the older days when I was younger watching and like, you know, I was always intrigued by that moshing and stage. Who isn't the best? Who isn't? You know what I mean? Like, people watching. Like, what better than to like watch people do that?

[Interviewer 2]

But that's way more creepy crawl kind

[Interviewer 1]

of going circle mutual slamming rather than

[Freddy Madball]

like this beautiful guys. There were guys that were great at that. John Watson, right? Like. Yeah, I've heard you. You've heard his name? Yeah, he was a standout guy from like the earlier period. Funny. Funny thing is though, like, John Watson was dancing the last time we played Brooklyn.

[Interviewer 1]

That's what it's all about.

[Freddy Madball]

John Watson gets it in.

[Interviewer 2]

That's.

[Freddy Madball]

He looks great and he's like, has aged really well and like, because he's like my brother's generation, so he's like, they're like 10, 12, whatever years older than me. He's an older cat, you know, and that's like a cosign that. That's awesome. Because he doesn't necessarily, you know, have to be into our type, our. Our band, like, but he is. He like supports all like the newer bands, like, you know, to him.

[Interviewer 2]

Were you active in the pit?

[Freddy Madball]

I was, I was sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. Not like all the time. But, like, I would get out there for sure.

[Interviewer 1]

When you're moshing during Mad Ball every time.

[Freddy Madball]

Well, yeah, there's that, but like a Friends band or like, if something af. Of course. Or like, you know, crown of Thorns. When they first came out, I danced a lot. Killing Time, if they ever came on. Like, if it gets me going.

[Interviewer 2]

Gotcha.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, I'm out there.

[Interviewer 1]

Were you at the Killing Time last show at CB's in 1990?

[Freddy Madball]

No, I was not there. That's a great. That's a great show, isn't it?

[Interviewer 1]

Unbelievable.

[Freddy Madball]

That's a great, great, great show.

[Interviewer 2]

I had a tape back.

[Freddy Madball]

I wish I was.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, yeah, me too. Yeah, I have a tape. Or I had a tape back in the day that was one. That set and then a Mad Ball set. But not the same show.

[Freddy Madball]

Right, right, right.

[Interviewer 2]

But just coincidentally it was.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, that. That show just, like, was awesome. Yeah, it was like, everything about it was. Was, you know, they sounded great. People were like. The reaction was great. It was. That was awesome. It's one of my favorites. But, yeah, there's certain bands that would get me going.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. To answer your question, yes, yes. And then Modern D. Mosh guys.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

I mean, like, from, like, early 90s that I'm thinking, like, guys that stand out. Yeah. I mean, there were. I mean, then there were guys. Okay. So there was this guy. Danny was a guy. I don't remember his last name. There was a guy named Danny who's that kind of like a bulkier guy who danced really hard. Danny. I'm sorry, I can't remember your last name. And then there was this other cat. It was like an Asian cat, but, like, darker complexion, so I don't know where he had been from. Not Philip. I don't know if he might have been Filipino. I'm not sure. We had a lot of, like, Filipino homies, Chinese homies. But, like, I don't. I didn't know him like that, but he would do a lot of kicks. And he wore, like, a black bandana and, like, black. He, like, dressed in black. He had, like, a style. Like, he was like. And I can't remember this guy's name. I want to, like, hopefully, like, we'll dig him up and find out who he is. But that dude got it in. In the 90s that you would always see him dancing and, like, kicking and doing stuff. And then, like, your usual suspects that I named from various bands would jump in there and dance and. Who else? Who else? Rap Bones cannot. Cannot go unmentioned, actually. Rap Bones is originally a Detroit guy who moved to New York and was very, very, very much in the mix, diving from crazy angles and just, like, getting it in. So, yeah. Yeah, there were some guys.

[Interviewer 1]

I love it.

[Interviewer 2]

Now, Colin.

[Freddy Madball]

I did the spin. I did a lot of that. I kind of like that move. Like, that came in in the 90s. Like, the swirling, the spinning of the arm.

[Interviewer 1]

Oh, like the windmill.

[Freddy Madball]

The windmill deal. Yeah. I like that one. I did. I utilized that one. I utilize that. I'm in a biohazard video doing that.

[Interviewer 2]

Okay.

[Freddy Madball]

If you play. If you. If you pay close attention to. Is it Shades of Gray?

[Interviewer 1]

Shades of Gray. Did Paris direct it?

[Freddy Madball]

Probably Shades of Gray. It wasn't the onyx one. I was there for the onyx one, but I didn't get in the video. But I think you see me and, like, Rick25 and, like, maybe Kevin, like, just. There's a few of us dancing, and I'm doing, like. You see me kind of doing, like, my, like, detached arm. I love it. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

The New York hardcore documentary.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Such a fascinating look into this time. How. How do you reflect on its legacy and have you revisited it since that time?

[Freddy Madball]

I mean, I haven't watched it all the way through. I'll see clips pop up, like, online. And it. I mean. I mean, it was. I have fond memories of it. It was like, a really good time. It was like, the contrast of, like,

[Interviewer 1]

that

[Freddy Madball]

moment versus when we. Like I said, when we first started playing. Yeah, like, when we played NYU to, like, 25 people.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

That was, like, in a few. Couple. Few years. It was a big change.

[Interviewer 1]

I mean, you're like, band in that.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, they documented that, like, that. That. That. You know, Frank put that together. Right. Frank Pavage did that one and. And Good Guy, too. And. Yeah. And no one was, like, doing documentaries on, like, you know, like. But there was definitely a resurgence, and someone had the bright idea to document it, and it was great. It was at, like, Coney Island High, right?

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

So Coney Island High was dope.

[Interviewer 1]

What a show.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

July 29, 1995. So, like, three months after Dynamo, same year. Yeah, crazy year. And also kind of the definition of a hardcore band is you can go and play Dynamo and you can go and play Coney island, and you don't change what you do. No, it's the same shit.

[Freddy Madball]

We only knew. We were like. We knew what we knew.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. And this is a year after you're saying 50 people are coming to see you, probably. You know, people have had time to digest Set it off.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

And here it is.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, we were playing little scrappy places in New York for the first little bit. Like, you know, besides like the AF shows or like bigger shows when we would try to play on our own, it was pretty light, you know, we played like. Yeah, the Scrap Yard and Avenue B. And like, we played like NYU, some weird thing. And so. Yeah, but. But 94. Ish. 95. All of a sudden the scene wakes up.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

And then, like I said, then there's like, Crown of Thorns comes in. Bulldoze comes in.25 to life. Which, speaking of which, you know, when Bulldoze invented the. In my opinion, beat down 100%. Yeah. I just got to clear that up because I see. I mean, there's always, like, stuff that you see written and you're like, I don't, like, I don't know if that's accurate. Like, we were talking something about us. I don't know if it's on Apple. I don't know what platform it's on.

[Interviewer 1]

It is on Apple. It says in your description.

[Freddy Madball]

You gotta change that. Because I never considered us a beat down hardcore band. We're a hardcore band. I mean, I know we've been called tough guy hardcore, which is also corny. We're just. We're just mad ball, bro. Like, just deal with it, you know? Like, you know, like, it's really definitive hardcore. I'm sorry, man. Like, it's not traditional. Like a. Like, as traditional as, like early af. It's not this, it's not that. It's just. It's just what we do. But it's like, stop trying to give us all these, like, additional titles, like subtitles. Like, you know, like, we're not. We're not beat down. Beat down is Bulldoze like, when they did that stuff, everyone was doing different stuff. And I love that. And that should always be the case. And they were the ones that were like. And I was like, that's pretty dope. Like, okay, go ahead, go, you know, do your thing, Kev. All right, go ahead. Go ahead and do that, you know? Yeah. And I danced to plenty of Bulldoze shows. So. Yeah, in the. They're be dumb in not us. Okay.

[Interviewer 2]

In the documentary, I think you present yourself really, really well.

[Freddy Madball]

I do.

[Interviewer 2]

You're like a young guy.

[Freddy Madball]

In the interview.

[Interviewer 2]

In the interview. Oh, I think you're very, like, eloquent.

[Freddy Madball]

I feel like I was shy.

[Interviewer 1]

You and Isaac, I think, are like, that. You're the per.

[Interviewer 2]

You're like, you're like the young guys, he's like, I don't even like hardcore.

[Interviewer 1]

I like the crab.

[Interviewer 2]

But you got. You come off really well.

[Freddy Madball]

Well, thank you.

[Interviewer 2]

And then to see.

[Freddy Madball]

I always thought I felt I looked awkward. Like, anytime I look back on that, I'm like, I'm so.

[Interviewer 2]

You have the great shots.

[Freddy Madball]

And I was. I was awkward. I had never really been like, in that kind of. You know, on a documentary they give

[Interviewer 2]

you the best shot. You're like, you're on the water.

[Freddy Madball]

That's a cool shot.

[Interviewer 2]

It's awesome.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, that's a cool shot. But then they showed me with my dog, right?

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, yeah, I think so.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. My. My. One of my old dogs. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

But then the show itself, the actual mad ball set, which is all out there. Pro shot, I think only set it off as in the documentary. However, the clip of you playing New York City is like very popular in our world. And there's just like little parts in it. There's a part where Stigma's just like flexing during the song, which is incredible.

[Freddy Madball]

Which he did a lot, which is awesome.

[Interviewer 2]

During the little bridge part before the breakdown, you like, fix Matt's mic so he can sing that part.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And he's like smiling. It's just like this awesome moment. And then the pit for what Can I Do goes so fucking crazy. And it's exactly what, like, young me hoped it looked like. You know what I mean? Also in that set, Roger comes out and. And plays Crucified.

[Freddy Madball]

Yes.

[Interviewer 2]

And in that moment, there are like. Like every New York hardcore head is in there. Caesar, District 9.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Toby was there.

[Freddy Madball]

Eric and Mike was dancing.

[Interviewer 2]

Jimmy G is there.

[Freddy Madball]

And

[Interviewer 2]

Rick the life.

[Interviewer 1]

Rick to life.

[Freddy Madball]

Yes.

[Interviewer 1]

Rick is.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, he's in the mix. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Rick is like such a central part of the New York hardcore story. And in this documentary.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

That is not the case now, like you sing on Loyal to the Girl.

[Freddy Madball]

Self inflicted by the. That's what. And that's.

[Interviewer 1]

You know, I would love to know, just kind of when did Rick's place in New York hardcore start to fall apart?

[Freddy Madball]

I think it happened earlier than people realize. And I'm not going to. I don't want to give them too much airtime because I have a motto that's like, I don't want to give credibility to those who don't really deserve it or have lost it.

[Interviewer 1]

Sure.

[Freddy Madball]

You know, in a dishonorable way.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

But I will, for the sake of, like, this conversation, of course, history, elaborate a little bit and for the sake of History. Yeah, I think that I don't not. It wasn't at that time. I mean that was like 25 was coming out and everyone was happy and had their bands and things were fine. But maybe later 90s things started to surface and I think that was the start of it. Beyond that went like when he went full blown cuckoo. That's his own like, I don't know like when that happened. But you know, there were always signs of like instability in character and there were a lot of passes given because of friendships.

[Interviewer 1]

Sure.

[Freddy Madball]

Lots that I won't even say on this thing, you know, because I could really dismantle people. But I don't do that. I don't get down like that. But lots of passes were given. And it's. It's unfortunate that people use friendships to sort of get away with shit, you know, and it's not the way I operate. But. So there was a lot of that. There were some years of that where it was like, you're getting away with a lot because of the company you keep and the scene that you're from. And then ultimately that wore out. Its welcome. That whole thing dissolved and then started to become like, hey man, you're gonna have to just be accountable for your actions on your own at this point, you know?

[Interviewer 1]

Got it.

[Freddy Madball]

But yeah, that happened probably earlier than the Internet dictates, you know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? But then now you see the unraveling of people and all that. But there was always signs of like weird character things and like pathological behavior.

[Interviewer 1]

Always his distro is.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

You know?

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. And then when all the things he would say later on, like online that I would get second hand or third hand, I'd be like, dude, yeah. Just outright lies. Like outright made up stories or like taking a story that he may have heard secondhand and like making it his own and then like throwing my name in it or something. Like it's like, huh? You know? And then the posturing is like, come on, man, you're the.

[Interviewer 1]

What was your. When you first heard he called you sad ball? What's your.

[Freddy Madball]

It's kind of funny. Yeah, it's kind of funny.

[Interviewer 1]

Sad ball.

[Freddy Madball]

And yeah, I don't take myself that seriously. I can laugh at something like that.

[Interviewer 1]

It's funny.

[Freddy Madball]

And it might have even been something he said to me, like when things were okay.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, right, right.

[Freddy Madball]

And like I was like upset about something and like jokingly might have even. It might have even been so. Touche.

[Interviewer 1]

It's one of the funny 100 scumbags is good for 100 demons.

[Freddy Madball]

And then, yeah, he just went crazy.

[Interviewer 1]

Wisdom in a cock ring for wisdom in chains. Weird. Out of his fucking mind, you know?

[Freddy Madball]

Yes. You gotta laugh at it because otherwise, you know, it can't be taken seriously. And, you know, to the younger folks out there that don't know, I mean, you know, it is kind of messed up when, like, you don't know. It's out of context for some people or they don't know anyone. One person from the other or any backgrounds. So if they happen to like that band, you know, I know you're a 25 life guy, and, I mean, they had some cool stuff, you know, I mean, was not my favorite band to come out of New York, but, I mean, they had some cool stuff that they put out. I'll give them some credit. And they had a lot of.

[Interviewer 1]

You're on a song.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, later on. That's a whole other story. Isaac pushed me to do that one. I was like, I kind of don't want to do it. All right, well, let's go. But we did it. Whatever. It doesn't matter. But we knew, like, the original squad were, like, all our friends, you know, so we were rooting them on, and they definitely, like, started to, like, gain a fan base and, like, make noise, you know, so, yeah, I'm not going to take that away from them. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

But it certainly.

[Freddy Madball]

In that regard, they were. Yeah, they were important to the scene in that. In that. In that respect, you know? But unfortunately, I can walk anywhere in the world. I can go into any show anywhere in the world, my head up. And if you can't do that, it's gonna. It speaks volumes of your character, 100%, you know what I mean? Like, I don't care where I am in the world, you know, and especially New York. Like, if you can't go into a show in your own scene that you came from says something, you know, how do you feel? Yeah, but.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, how do you feel about the rest of the kind of selection of casts, like the various characters in the documentary? Do you feel it was an accurate assessment of New York? Harcourt?

[Freddy Madball]

It was who. They. It was them being them. I mean, like, E was, like, kind of funny, like, nervous. He always has this nervous laugh that he does still to this day, probably. And, like, he was being himself. Puerto Rican Mike was funny being Puerto

[Interviewer 1]

Rican Caesar from District 9.

[Freddy Madball]

Caesar, maybe the Puerto Rican Mike. That combo were hilarious. You know, who else is in there

[Interviewer 2]

and then isn't there?

[Interviewer 1]

One of the 108.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. 108. Yeah, homie. From 108. Yeah. I mean you saw all the different personalities.

[Interviewer 2]

It is fascinating.

[Freddy Madball]

Anything that's authentic is okay in my book. Yeah, agreed.

[Interviewer 1]

You know, in the mad ball set and one of the. This incredible clip of stigma grabbing the mic saying, that's Freddie Madball. That's the new king right there.

[Freddy Madball]

Stinky.

[Interviewer 1]

Do you feel as if a new king has risen since.

[Freddy Madball]

I mean, I don't, you know, I don't know about that, but I appreciate that he views me in a way and I mean to get the cosign from him, my brother Jimmy, those. Cause those guys have all said something similar like that in one at some point or another. And I just, I'm like, man, listen man, I'm just, I'm just trying to honor like the opportunity that I was given. Yeah, I'm just trying to honor that. And I will forever do that. I will forever do that. I will forever be a defender of the core and the culture, you know, and like protector and like, you know, I don't know, I don't know if I'm a king or whatever you want to. I mean, I'm flattered, I'm flattered by the title, by the especially being endorsed by someone like Vinny who you've known your whole life. Who I've known my whole life, you know. But yeah, I mean it's flattering. It's awesome. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

There's gotta be some pride for him of like this kid that we chose when he was a child to build this thing around.

[Freddy Madball]

Well, that's how is sticking with it. I mean that's exactly how he views it, I guess. Right. Cause he saw me from being a scared little 7 year old like you know, going up there super timid to like the documentary where I had started to find a little bit more of a stride, a little bit more of a comfort zone. Still wasn't fully there. I don't think I still was great about communicating, great at communicating with people as much. I was more like all about business, like play the song and then I'm in, you know, like just, you know, but like, you know, you, you find that as you, as you grow in this thing, you, you get more comfortable in all those areas. But the fact that, yeah, he, he said that was awesome and it's got to be something for him to see a little kid grow into a man and like still, you know, take that and do something. So yeah, I mean, he got mad

[Interviewer 1]

ball tattooed on his head. Like.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Three years ago, you know?

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. It wasn't like it was in 95. It was like, that's love. That's love. Yeah, that's love. That's love. And he got to see my daughter sing, which I thought was a special moment.

[Interviewer 2]

Oh, wow.

[Freddy Madball]

Like, a full circle moment for me, since we're on that topic. We played punk rock bowling, and we finally got to play, like, the actual punk rock bowling, like, the main stage. And it was cool. It was, like, in the middle of the street, like, bunch of people there watching. So it was a good show. And I brought my daughter out. My family was with me there, and I brought her out to sing It's My Life.

[Interviewer 2]

How old is she?

[Freddy Madball]

She was nine at the time.

[Interviewer 1]

That's your song.

[Freddy Madball]

Or eight or nine at the time.

[Interviewer 1]

That's your song that they gave you.

[Freddy Madball]

But Vinny was there.

[Interviewer 2]

Whoa.

[Freddy Madball]

So that's what made it extra special because af. We're gonna play. Either they played a day before, or we're gonna play the next day or something. Af. We're in town, and Vinnie and Gallo were at the show. And, yeah, there's, like, videos of it, but, like, pictures of it, but you can see Stigma in the back with a big smile on his face. And, like, imagine seeing from his perspective, his viewpoint. I was seven. Yeah. You know, the kid's kid.

[Interviewer 1]

The kid.

[Freddy Madball]

The kid's kid. So, yeah, that's pretty. That's pretty cool.

[Interviewer 2]

That's awesome.

[Freddy Madball]

It's pretty cool.

[Interviewer 2]

How'd she do?

[Freddy Madball]

She did great.

[Interviewer 2]

All right.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. If you look up the videos, man, she did great. She bounced around up there. She did. She did good. And she's. She definitely likes music. I'll tell you another funny little. Can I interject.

[Interviewer 1]

Please?

[Freddy Madball]

Can I insert one thing about my daughter about this? So she's got a very eclectic taste in music, like myself. And I have. I have a daughter and a son. My son's 14, and he's. They're. They're both. You know, they're fantastic. And their mother, of course, I'm. I'm big on family. I'm all that's. I'm all about my family. But my daughter has similar music taste to me, being, like. She likes 90s hip hop and, like, all this, like, very similar. Like, you know, she'll know, like. Like a Fleetwood Mac song or something. Like, she'll know. Like, it's, like, random. Like, she's got, like, a really. Like, she retains lyrics, like.

[Interviewer 1]

And then loves victim in pain.

[Freddy Madball]

How did you know?

[Interviewer 1]

I Felt it.

[Freddy Madball]

So. So I think she might have heard it. We were like, showed him a little clips of the documentary, my. My brother's documentary. And, like, it's the intro and immediate, immediately, like, resonated with her. The song.

[Interviewer 2]

Whoa.

[Freddy Madball]

And so she plays soccer. So before we go to a soccer game, she always requests Victim in Pain get pumped up to hear that, to go to play the soccer game. And I don't even. I don't think I've told my brother this. I don't think I've told Vinnie this. So they might even hear it on here first time or whatever. But she requests Victim in Pain and I'm like, how does this happen? Like, I didn't push it on her. I didn't say, you have to listen to this record from start to finish. Nothing like that at all. This was like her mind. She heard the song and it did something for her. And then, like, specifically requests that song when she's about to go play a game to get her.

[Interviewer 1]

Like, you know in X Men, when mutants have this moment in their lives where they discover their superpowers, it's basically that hearing Victim and Payne in that documentary was like her blood fully formed. And there she was.

[Freddy Madball]

She could pick any song that this point.

[Interviewer 1]

Unbelievable.

[Freddy Madball]

She's a 10 year old now. She's 10 year old little girl. I mean, of all songs.

[Interviewer 1]

That's crazy. Without your, like, distinct guidance.

[Freddy Madball]

No.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, it was in her blood.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. It's wild.

[Interviewer 1]

It's unlocked. When does Stigma leave madball to become, and I quote you, a famous tattooist?

[Freddy Madball]

A famous tattooist, yeah. He's still working on that, by the way, but 90. 97. 6. 7. 6, 7.

[Interviewer 1]

So right around demonstrating my style.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, I. I want to say he was with us on a couple of Demonstrating my Style tours in Europe.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay.

[Freddy Madball]

Okay, so let's just say 97.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was sad to see him, like, depart from, like.

[Interviewer 1]

But, man, he stuck around, you know, he really did it.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, he stuck around, man.

[Interviewer 2]

He.

[Freddy Madball]

He. It's like he saw us off.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, right.

[Freddy Madball]

You know, he was like, he came with us. He, like, we got going, we got going. And then he's like, okay, guys, yeah, you got it from here. And then soon after that, AF came back.

[Interviewer 2]

So there was. There was a minute where he wasn't playing music.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, yeah, he was with us. I mean, he was playing with that ball, but, like, he wasn't playing af.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. Oh, okay. Well, AF would so demonstrate my style. And AF coming back kind of happened simultaneously. We'll get there in a second.

[Freddy Madball]

That's a cool thing.

[Interviewer 1]

Yep, it did demonstrate my style. You did it again. Second LP back on Roadrunner, back with Jamie Locke. Tell me thoughts and feelings from this time. What comes to mind with this record?

[Freddy Madball]

Definitely feeling like we've grasp. Like we had kind of have our own sound going by this point. I mean I think that started with dropping many Suckers very early, like stages, but then grew more. Would set it off and then by demonstrating my style. We're like this like that like kind of hence the name but like that has many metaphors. But like. Yeah, we kind of like this. This our style is this, you know, this is our version of hardcore.

[Interviewer 1]

Sure.

[Freddy Madball]

It's taking from the old school, you know, taking from all these, you know, like, like. Well, my cadence, you know, like the whole. The whole thing, you know, like every Matty's writing style, Hoya's writing style. All that in a pot makes Mad Ball. And like I think that. That it was more defined and refined by demonstrating my style, I would say. And there's probably more new songs.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Because set it off as like half.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Old babble.

[Interviewer 1]

Is this you lyrically across the board here.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, for sure.

[Interviewer 1]

So that's really the first real time. We're start to finish.

[Freddy Madball]

Set it off. I would say minus, minus like one.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay.

[Freddy Madball]

One song. A song and a half. But like. Yeah, so yeah, set it off. I started my own lyrics but demonstrate

[Interviewer 1]

myself but like the whole thing.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, I would say. Yeah. I think I'm pretty sure though the intro, my lyrics.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, come on. So cool.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, awesome.

[Interviewer 1]

You guys really understand it was different.

[Freddy Madball]

It was different.

[Interviewer 1]

You understand the importance of the title track of like. Okay, this one's gonna represent the album.

[Freddy Madball]

Yes.

[Interviewer 1]

Let's go. Let's go crazy on this one.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah,

[Interviewer 1]

I think any other. You're 21 around this time, something like that. 20. 21. 96.

[Freddy Madball]

96. I'm 21. Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

I think any other 21 year old saying hardcore is my life, I'll carry the name would feel disingenuous. But here it is objectively true.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, exactly. That's like. Those are like could be cringe worthy lyrics. But it's completely honest.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, completely honest.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

So how. How is.

[Freddy Madball]

And it rhymed with whatever I needed it to rhyme with.

[Interviewer 1]

Right.

[Freddy Madball]

So there you go.

[Interviewer 1]

That's half the battle.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

How is hardcore changed by 96 and how is like the inner operations of Mad Ball changed by this time?

[Freddy Madball]

Not drastically from 95. I will say yes. Drastically in Europe. Drastically in Europe.

[Interviewer 2]

It caught on.

[Freddy Madball]

It caught on in Europe. So much so that for demonstrating my style, we actually went out to do promo in Europe without playing a solitary show.

[Interviewer 2]

It's the dream.

[Interviewer 1]

Like radio and press, all that. Wow.

[Freddy Madball]

I had never done that. Yeah. And we were like, what, you want to fly us out to Europe to talk to interviews?

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Like, really? So we did that for that record, I guess. Set it off, broke some ground. Dynamo. These things start happening. So they take. So Roadrunner takes us a little bit more seriously as a band, and so they put a little bit of oomph into us. For demonstrating my style. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Okay.

[Freddy Madball]

And I'm. I'm grateful for it. I mean, we. It helped us cement something there that we still have today. There, you know, we did, like, crazy promo, played crazy festivals, like, the weirdest bands, the most eclectic styles of band. It was like Los Lobos, Mad Ball and Corn. Like this one show and then like some other thing with like a rap band, like a. It was like Spoke Riders. They were like this Dutch rap band. And like us and then like Lords of Brooklyn. Like, it's like the most. Holland had like the illest lineups of bands. Like, they're like.

[Interviewer 1]

And is that working?

[Freddy Madball]

It was so working. It was like they were ahead of their time, whoever was putting together those Dutch festivals. Holland, I mean, Dynamo was a Dutch festival. They had. They were onto something. They were mixing. Crossing genres and mixing stuff, but somehow they were making it work.

[Interviewer 2]

It's still the best place over there, in my opinion.

[Freddy Madball]

One of. For sure. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Pride. Times are changing. Music video from this record.

[Interviewer 1]

Big Chair. Huge Chair.

[Freddy Madball]

Big Chair.

[Interviewer 1]

And New York Hardcore's Big Chair Budget.

[Freddy Madball]

Vinnie said it, so I had to have a throne. I see.

[Interviewer 2]

It's like a classic NYHC song start to finish.

[Interviewer 1]

It's still your live closer, you know.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, it. You know, we alternate it now, but yeah, Pride is still one of the big ones.

[Interviewer 2]

It's got that. That whole intro, big sing along kind of song.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

I mean, was this chosen with Europe in mind or was it just a random thing? Because they love to sing along over there, so.

[Freddy Madball]

Funny thing about Pride is it was a song that didn't come together until the very end. Yeah. And Maddie was instrumental in that. I think this is heavily Maddie's song. My lyrics, it was like a hodgepodge of stuff. And somehow this is gonna. We were like, this is gonna be a cool song, but it wasn't put together in the right order. And then we somehow finagled that Matty did mainly. I gotta give him his props on that. And then we listened back. We're like, okay, now it's what it's supposed to be. And. Yeah, I don't know why we. We chose that. I think again, because it had like a catchier chorus.

[Interviewer 1]

It's an anthem. Feels like.

[Freddy Madball]

Yes, correct. It had an anthemic vibe to it. And I love. I. I love the fact that like, it kept like. I don't know. New York hardcore has always been a little bit influenced by like.

[Interviewer 1]

Oi.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, definitely.

[Freddy Madball]

Whether people want to admit it or not. Even like going back to like our stuff with like when we did the blame, that's like whoever's song that is originally. But like, you know, we. We kind of like became our song. And like, we loved doing that song. Like, so it was like we always had that element in our music. Mad Ball did you know, I mean, if you. Jeff has it in a different way. We kind of. It manifests itself in different ways with our bands. But like. Yeah, there's always that element. And I feel like Pride has.

[Interviewer 1]

If you. If you close the hi hat, sang a little more melodically. That's a Cox Bar song, you know.

[Freddy Madball]

Okay.

[Interviewer 1]

Straight up. Like, it's all the DNA.

[Freddy Madball]

That's a compliment. You know what I mean? So it's like. Yeah, it's like we weren't like thinking like that. Like, we want this to sound like a business or a Cox Bar or whatever.

[Interviewer 1]

Sure.

[Freddy Madball]

Cockney rejects, whatever. But like, I think it's there. I think it's just there. It's all there, you know, and we always enjoy doing those kind of songs, for sure.

[Interviewer 1]

Do you know the amount of band names and record labels you've given via lyrics? Like, you've given. There's probably a band name for every madman.

[Freddy Madball]

I know there's a band named Set It Off.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, there's.

[Freddy Madball]

My buddy Matty manages them. And I don't know if it's directly related to madball, but come on, you gotta.

[Interviewer 1]

It ain't the movie.

[Freddy Madball]

You gotta wonder. Yes.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, I. This movie's killing me. I'm Googling. Set it off. I'm getting this.

[Freddy Madball]

Queen Latifah, Jada. I don't pick it. Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

I won't watch.

[Freddy Madball]

Forget them. Forget the movie. For.

[Interviewer 1]

For Real, man. Streets of Hate Records.

[Freddy Madball]

Alex K. There's a record label.

[Interviewer 1]

Oh, yeah. It's a great one too.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay.

[Interviewer 1]

There's a. Many madball songs are something else now. So you're doing a Great service.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, man.

[Interviewer 1]

To all.

[Freddy Madball]

Respect. Respect to all of you who are inspired by that.

[Interviewer 1]

So would you say 96 is when mad Ball in Europe really becomes kind of what it is today, or was,

[Freddy Madball]

you know, definitely a big. A big. There was a big push and we, like, serious. Planted a very serious flag there, like, and did some good tours and some more festivals because we weren't familiar with the whole festival scene and we started to do more festivals and all that

[Interviewer 2]

is, is longevity, you know what I mean? That's guaranteed your. Your band being able to go.

[Freddy Madball]

Yep.

[Interviewer 2]

And just go and go. So it's. It's so important and difficult.

[Interviewer 1]

Yes.

[Freddy Madball]

It's instrumental, man. I can't. I can't. I mean, we're now finally start to. Starting to get on festivals in the States. I've been trying to do it for years because I just saw how well it worked in Europe. And it's not even speaking from like a business mind, but it definitely works from a business standpoint. But just from like you said, a longevity standpoint, having the opportunity to play those festivals just extends your life and like, because otherwise you're just playing to the same crowds over and over. But now your crowd broadens and there's going to be the people that don't care for hardcore, but then there's always going to be a few that are like, hey, I dig that stuff. Like, whatever that is, I want to check it out more and it opens up a door for other people and

[Interviewer 1]

like, America's really kind of like that proof of concept in Europe, the Hellfests and all that. That's like kind of just now. Just now, like louder than life is every band. And it's really. You just got to do that and assemble everyone and everything grows.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, absolutely. I've been talking. Tim Bohr is my booking agent here in America and has been for like 20 plus years. And I was always like, are there more. Are there more festivals that we can get on out here? Because I feel like that would kind of spark something for us here because I just always. It just always works so well in Europe. And mind you, in Europe we're doing. One day we'll be doing some massive festival and it'll go well and we'll have like a cool reaction and like, it'll be. It'll be cool. And the next day we're playing a little club. So it's not like it's, you know, like, it hasn't like shot us into this, like, you know, category of like, whatever, but it helps it helps keeps the. Keep the clubs more full. And it help. And it helps us expose our culture to, like, different people. Absolutely. Year after year after year. It doesn't. It was not only in Dynamo, it was, like, still today, like, we play a festival and it's like there's somebody watching for the first time. Or a hardcore band for the first time.

[Interviewer 1]

And throughout all the ebbs and flows of hardcore growing and leveling out.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

How do you feel about where it is now?

[Freddy Madball]

I feel it's great. I feel it's great, man. I feel. You know, I was asked that recently, and I think it's in a really good place. You know, it's tougher for. What's the word they use for us? Legacy bands or whatever? I don't know, man. I'm just a band. Like, we just do what we do. You know what I mean? But, like, yes, I get it. It's tougher for legacy bands in the States. Yeah. Yeah. Not in Europe. But it's fine. At the same time, like, so what? Like, deal with it.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Just get in their face.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

You know, I got offered. Can I even say it? I got offered a tour recently that I'm going to do. That I'm not going to say because I don't know if I. If I can say it. I don't know when this will drop. But, you know, it's a band that's new and young and hot right now, and rightfully so. And they asked us to do a tour or a section. A segment of a tour. And I had no ego about it. I'm like, yeah, you know, Main support.

[Interviewer 2]

That's awesome.

[Freddy Madball]

I don't have the pressure of closing

[Interviewer 1]

the Terror Method of just like, yeah, we'll play.

[Freddy Madball]

And kudos to Terror, man. They're like. They were with that. They were with that, too. Like, they were. We're the same, like, in that regard. Like, we don't have any egos like that. Like, we'll. We'll. Like, we have. We'll open up for you. Yeah. Problem. And maybe it gets flipped on another, you know, like, I brought a bunch of bands out to Europe to do my rebellion thing, you know, and, like, that's right.

[Interviewer 2]

Hey, we. We didn't even.

[Freddy Madball]

We owe you a rebellion. We. The day we.

[Interviewer 2]

You know, there was. The day we were flying out.

[Freddy Madball]

Same.

[Interviewer 2]

The travel ban happened for Covid.

[Freddy Madball]

Yes.

[Interviewer 1]

Wow.

[Freddy Madball]

I had to make an executive decision. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

You made the call. That's right.

[Freddy Madball]

About the tour.

[Interviewer 2]

Vitalo showed us the text.

[Freddy Madball]

If the tour is going to Happen or not. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

He made the call. Which is crazy. A lot of pressure.

[Freddy Madball]

A lot of pressure.

[Interviewer 2]

But it was us. Mad Ball. It was Mad Ball knocked Loose.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. Check out this lineup. Us Knock Loose, Harm's Way, and Dagger Threat, a German.

[Interviewer 1]

Aha. Yes, I know Dagger Threat.

[Freddy Madball]

And. Yeah. Which would have been a killer.

[Interviewer 2]

I literally. Rebellion tour at the end of that night, I like, emailed this place and was like, hey, I need a job.

[Freddy Madball]

Wow.

[Interviewer 2]

And that was how I started the it. But anyway, that's. So I forgot all about all of that.

[Freddy Madball]

Well, yeah, the whole world went upside down at that point. But that was a tough one because I had worked hard to get together that lineup that was going to.

[Interviewer 2]

That lineup was going to.

[Freddy Madball]

And Knock Loose hadn't quite yet.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Gotten to.

[Interviewer 1]

Now it's. Yeah, now they're on.

[Freddy Madball]

Now I'd be like, yo, when you going to bring me on tour? Yes, let's go straight up. But, like, it would have been cool. It would have been really cool. And sadly it didn't happen. But, you know, by the time we got out of all that. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, I'm not gonna ask them to try to. I'm gonna try to do that tour again. Like, that's.

[Interviewer 1]

That's a wrap back to 1996. Here we go.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

In the middle of a Mad Ball set.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

After you spend time talking about what I do now.

[Freddy Madball]

What I do now.

[Interviewer 1]

This is good. This is good. You're gonna love it. After talking about remembering the roots of the genre, which we're all about. Like, that's what this is all about. At the end of the day.

[Interviewer 2]

We love to know stuff.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Agnostic Front reunites in the middle of your set.

[Freddy Madball]

Is that at Wetlands?

[Interviewer 1]

Yes. How was that in the works? Far in advance or was that a spur of the moment thing?

[Freddy Madball]

That was spontaneous.

[Interviewer 2]

Really?

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Holy shit.

[Freddy Madball]

Completely spontaneous. I looked around and I saw my brother, Rob Kabula. Maybe Ray Bees jumped on the drums. Or was Will there? No, Will. Cause Will was playing. Will was playing with us.

[Interviewer 2]

Cause Ray drummed for AF at some point, didn't he? Like, early.

[Freddy Madball]

Ray drummed for AF very early on. And I got a little. I'm gonna insert a little lore for you.

[Interviewer 2]

Please.

[Freddy Madball]

Ray played a Mad Ball set once.

[Interviewer 2]

No shit?

[Freddy Madball]

Yes. Wow. At the Continental in New York. We had a show. Something happened. I don't know why it came to be this way, but Ray B's play drums. It was me. It was Hoya, Vinnie, Ray, myself.

[Interviewer 1]

So Hoya's already in. So this is like 93 or something.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. Wow.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, that's a lineup.

[Freddy Madball]

It was Rest in Peace Ray. But it was horrific. It was horrific. But

[Interviewer 1]

that's not where I.

[Freddy Madball]

But classic. Yeah, nonetheless. Yeah. Yeah, nonetheless, classic. Wow. Like, I wouldn't have it any other way. Like, I love that that happened. I love that happened. And we basically did all the, you know, ball of destruction. Because what is. Ray only knows, like, United Blood stuff.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

So that was like a. One of those random, weird, impromptu mad ball sets that like. Yeah, that's crazy. But back, back to your thing. I feel like Ray played us. I don't know. I feel like he was part of it. But. Oh, no, I'm talking about Ray. Maybe Jimmy. Jimmy Coletti might have been there. That's what it was. Something like that. But like part of the old lineup was there and I invited them up to play Crucify.

[Interviewer 1]

Right?

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

And Victim in Pain.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, that. Well, they just kept going with it. I was like, well, you might as well just play a show at this point. But like, so, yeah, I was like, hey, afcr, so they're going to do. And then, you know. Yeah, it was like very impromptu. Was not like we didn't talk about it, like leading up to it really. Like, it was like, yeah, it's awesome. You know, put a bug, you know, in my brothers. You know, like, they start, you know, maybe there is still something here. But mind you, the scene is now vibrant again or getting there, like growing again. And there's all these younger people now. Younger, like my generation, you know, and

[Interviewer 1]

they booked a two night reunion in the same venue, like the same year.

[Freddy Madball]

Exactly.

[Interviewer 1]

So clearly that put the.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, exactly. The bug in. So I. It's reciprocated, you know, I return the favor. They put me on. I put them on.

[Interviewer 2]

I feel like it's one of the only genres in the world where that can happen 100%.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

In a spontaneous way.

[Freddy Madball]

And now look at them. They're still. We're all. I mean, we're all still doing what we do, you know, but like. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Pardon this interruption. We hate to keep you even more than a second from this unbelievable part two with Freddy Mad. But we gotta tell you about three very important things really quickly, all of which this episode would not have been possible without.

[Interviewer 2]

That's right.

[Interviewer 1]

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[Interviewer 2]

I am wearing a pair of samurai baker pants right now. They're green. They are so comfortable. So lovely. I got them from Guilty Party.

[Interviewer 1]

That's Right. And you can get them too. If you use code Hardlawar. You're gonna get 10% off and free shipping on all orders over $300. Beau was just telling you about the samurai Baker pants. They also come in black, by the way. And just a few more recommendations for you. The full count. 1101. To me, this is the quintessential men's jeans. They're part of the Osaka five, the five brands that really spearheaded the Japanese denim boom, of course. And this is the perfect blue pair, which, you know, we should all have.

[Interviewer 2]

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[Interviewer 1]

And to me, the goat, the Free Note Modesto. I wear these most days. I have them in three colors. Now. You need no more recommendations. There you go. Any of those three, you're set for life. They have new items every single week. Jackets, boots, pants, socks, belts, scents, candles. And all you need is a few items to realistically change your entire life. Code Hard Lore Guilty Party. This episode is also brought to you by Mills Vintage. The greatest collection of vintage hardcore metal and punk memorabilia on the whole of the Internet.

[Interviewer 2]

We get asked all the time, where'd you get that shirt? Where'd you find that shirt? How did you get that shirt? The answer is simple.

[Interviewer 1]

10% of the time, I got it from Vic at Mills vintage. 90% of the time, I already had it. Because I've liked all of my things that I like for a really long time. It's never a bootleg, but millsvintageusa.com is the best place. Even just as an archive. Look, go through there. Look at the coolest shit ever made. Agnostic Front, Mad Ball, Breakdown. Everything we talk about in this incredible episode, you can see damn near everything they ever made.

[Interviewer 2]

That's right. They got punk, metal, hardcore, hip hop, all kinds of adjacent stuff. You never know what you're going to find. And also, Vic is looking to trade. He's looking to reel and deal. If you happen to be in New York, if you happen to be in Los Angeles, you can go to Varsity and visit Mills Vintage, see what you can work out.

[Interviewer 1]

Or just message him on Instagram, show him your stuff. He'll send you an offer, then they'll send it to me or Beau, and then the cycle continues. That's code hard lore. 10% off Mills Vintage USA sitewide. Lastly, this episode is brought to you by Dunnable Guitars. Dunnable Guitars are the guitars for heavy music used by many of your favorite artists. Sang with Sugabog, Power Trip, Primitive Man. They got custom guitars coming. And your least favorite Artist, me, we all use them. They have a variety of different tones, and the 25 and a half inch scale allows for better tuning stability.

[Interviewer 2]

That's right. We're talking baritone bass, sixes, seven string, all new seven string. That sold real good. They got it all. They got everything you need. You could tune low, you can play slow, you can do all the stuff you want.

[Interviewer 1]

That's right. And you can either find your dream guitar and the USA Custom Shop. Look at that. I got a kill switch right there.

[Interviewer 2]

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[Freddy Madball]

Look at it.

[Interviewer 1]

You can do all the stuff. And if you use code hard lore, you're getting 15% off. Listen to me. 15% off? A guitar?

[Interviewer 2]

A whole guitar? Why would you not do that?

[Interviewer 1]

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[Freddy Madball]

We approached it different from a studio standpoint. We didn't do Jamie, we did Dean. Dean Bartolonas, which was Matty's close friend. Our friend. He was a friend to all of us. But Matty was especially close with him and they had worked, they did a lot of studio stuff together and he was branching out, trying to establish himself, doing his own studio and doing whatever. So we gave. Kind of threw him that record. And again, it was in Mass.

[Interviewer 1]

Oh yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Like I said, we never recorded New York. Maybe it's like a bad thing if we record in New York. Maybe it's like a bad omen. So we went to Mass. Boston area.

[Interviewer 1]

Well, wouldn't Ball of Destruction was done.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh my God. Yeah. What am I talking about? Lp. Lp.

[Interviewer 2]

That makes sense.

[Freddy Madball]

Duh. Besides the Dog. Besides. Besides none of the major LPs.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay. LPs.

[Freddy Madball]

And I'm glad you clarified that because people are like, what? Where was Dog Furious?

[Interviewer 1]

Boston. Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

No, you're right. So the first two eps were New York.

[Interviewer 1]

Sure. Lps.

[Freddy Madball]

We'll say the. The law. Yeah, the. The albums, the full albums. None of the full length albums have ever. None of Them have been recorded in New York. Jersey. Yes, but not New York. So what was I saying? So, yeah, we gave Dean a shot on this one and on the strength of Matty. And I mean, it was cool. We were down for that because we needed to change it up a little bit. We needed to, like, you know, three record or a couple records with Jamie. We need to, like, get a different flavor going. And so Matty was heavily involved in that one production, like, producing wise. And like. Yeah, I mean, it was a darker record for us, vibe wise, and I got more involved. There were some songs that I guess you could say some of the riffs were mine.

[Interviewer 1]

Really? Are you standing there going, da na na na na, or are you playing guitar?

[Freddy Madball]

No, I wasn't playing guitar. You know, I can hack a guitar now. But, like, for some reason I was around all these, like, great musicians, and I never, like, picked up an instrument and tried to, like, learn it just for writing purposes or whatever, you know, like, it's shame on me for that. I have in the last little bit, I've started to, you know, do that a little bit. But it was. No, it was like, me. I stayed with Maddie. It was like. It was like we. We all stayed with Maddie because he was living there at the time, going to school in Boston. So we all stayed with him. And then we would go to Dean's and record. And I can't remember how much of the album we had written beforehand.

[Interviewer 1]

Oh, interesting.

[Freddy Madball]

But I feel like it was like half and half. Maybe like we had some stuff written, but then. And then we'd be writing at Maddie's. But yeah, there were some songs where I could remember, like, humming a riff to Maddie and then he'd play it. And then there was. So there was like. That was probably the first record

[Interviewer 2]

where

[Freddy Madball]

I could say that I, like, came up with a riff, you know? You know, roundabout way. Yeah, of course. But, yeah, same usual process, these guys with the riffs and then. And then the difference was Johnny lofato was on drums at this point, so he brought his own kind of caveman, caveman style to the man.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, more like halftime mosh parts.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Cut off.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

What a track.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. Musically it was. Musically was hard. Musically was different. Yeah, musically was a little. It was a little different. And

[Interviewer 1]

you're going,

[Freddy Madball]

yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Which is like, that's very of the time. But you do it in a very mad ball way.

[Freddy Madball]

Right, right, right. Very good. Yeah, it was. Nah, man, we were into it. I mean, we didn't. I don't think it got the push that, like, other records got.

[Interviewer 1]

And is that Roadrunner's fault? Is that on you guys? What do you attribute that to?

[Freddy Madball]

Roadrunner's starting to go, like, more mainstream by this point.

[Interviewer 1]

I think they got nickelbacked by 97 or.

[Freddy Madball]

I don't. Maybe 98. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Slipknot's not even there yet. I think that's like about to happen.

[Freddy Madball]

Right.

[Interviewer 1]

So maybe they got plans that they're starting.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, it's. It's weird. It's like it didn't get the push that demonstrate my style. Got. It was only like a couple of years later or whatever. But yeah, I mean, we toured for it. We did our part, you know, we did. We did some really cool tours off that album in the States. We did like a kind of infamous tour with Earth Crisis. It was like us, Earth Crisis, Hate Breed, Scar Head. And then the second half, instead of Hate Breed, it was Blood for Blood.

[Interviewer 1]

That'll do it. How was that tour?

[Freddy Madball]

Very cool. I mean, I don't know what record Earth Crisis would have been on, but I think it was one that was like, pretty.

[Interviewer 1]

That would have been Gamora, probably.

[Freddy Madball]

I think Gamora Season ends by the end, maybe. So we were doing like a co headline thing. Wow. Flip flopping.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. They were popping at the time and then we were on Look My Way. I mean, and it was doing good enough where like, we were still going, doing our stuff and. Yeah, hey, Preid was like opening up for us, all of us. Which is funny to think about now. I remember watching them a bunch on that tour, actually, and thinking, span's got something. Yeah, sure enough.

[Interviewer 1]

And that would have been like, right when Satisfaction.

[Freddy Madball]

That was that record. They were. They were playing that record, that Satisfaction record. And I thought, damn, this band's hard. And I kind of knew Jamie because he had, I think, booked a couple of shows for us in Connecticut. So, like, I mean, we weren't like, tight, but like, I knew him and like. But I was like, damn, Jamie's band's pretty damn good. Yeah. And then Blood For Blood in the second half, Legendary. But that tour was like super long and like crazy.

[Interviewer 1]

Rowdy.

[Freddy Madball]

Rowdy, yeah, I can see rowdy. And like, just. It's a miracle that the tour like, that we made it out alive. But yeah, that was like one of the highlights of 98 of that look My Way time. And in Europe, we had some good. Some good stuff happen, but didn't get the shine that Denver Stream must have. And you were.

[Interviewer 1]

I mean, this was your last record With Roadrunner, Was that writing on the wall or was that something sort of. You said you signed for a million records. You did three. Sort of.

[Freddy Madball]

For us, it was. And I'll give credit to Monte Connors and, like, the people that started to, like, climb up the ladder at Roadrunner at the time, they were guys that we knew. And I basically asked him. We asked him if we could leave and try other stuff. Yeah. Because I think we. We might have been locked in for one more album or something like that and. Or an option or. I don't know. But we talked to Monty and they had respect for us, so they were like. Yeah. And he knew, like, maybe, like you said, maybe like, Nickelback. I don't know, something was coming in the. In the in, you know, like.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay, we can say that.

[Freddy Madball]

Not hardcore.

[Interviewer 1]

Something that's, like, more, you know, even death metal.

[Freddy Madball]

Mainstream. Yeah, whatever, you know. And.

[Interviewer 1]

And so Monty's at Nuclear Blast now.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, he is.

[Interviewer 1]

Did he. Are you on currently?

[Freddy Madball]

We're on the bus. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Full circle. Look at that. Yep. Go figure, right? But, yeah, no, he is. Yeah. He's. He's. He's. He's there. But, yeah, he was like. He was like, yo, man, I get it. I'm like. It's just. We feel like we're just not. You know.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Anymore. That priority anymore. And, I mean, I get it. I guess at that time, hardcore had, like, a ceiling. I guess. I mean, you know, so, like. So. Yeah, so that was. That's when we went over to Eptaph.

[Interviewer 1]

On Look My Way, the logo changed for the first time to the 3D1 tech. You know, technology's booming.

[Freddy Madball]

Y2K is dropping detail that you guys.

[Interviewer 2]

Oh, it's starfish.

[Freddy Madball]

Like, even when you were just mentioning people's faces on the Coney island show, like, I love that. That's, like, good. You guys are good at what you do.

[Interviewer 1]

Thanks, man.

[Freddy Madball]

So are you. It's the details, man. It's the details that, like, why'd you change so and so his face during this song?

[Interviewer 1]

Why did they feel that way? Yeah, right. What made you want to change the iconic logo?

[Freddy Madball]

You know, I couldn't tell you, man. Just fully, fully honest with you. Like, I don't know. I think it was just part of the whole vibe of, like, changing studios, altering the sound a little bit, the writing. I think the whole theme just changed a little bit. And I think we were just trying to, like, you know, we knew who we were, but also, like, freshen things up.

[Interviewer 2]

Of course.

[Freddy Madball]

You know, what you have to do as a band.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

You know, so. Yeah, it was that.

[Interviewer 1]

That's fair.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

So the live version of Hold it down that you do today with the band intro, when did you realize you could just ring out forever, over and over forever while you intro the band? Like, do you recall doing that the first time being like, keep ringing out? Yeah, I'm gonna just.

[Freddy Madball]

I don't recall the first time, but. Yeah. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

You mean look my Way?

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

You said hold it down.

[Interviewer 1]

Oh, did I?

[Interviewer 2]

And that was so crazy.

[Freddy Madball]

I know what he meant.

[Interviewer 1]

The title track of Look My Way.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

When did you realize you could ring up forever?

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

I was reading the worst Hold.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, that. That happened like live. A lot of things have happened.

[Interviewer 1]

The get out. The get out thing.

[Freddy Madball]

Live.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, it goes get out, get out. And then you do this. The long stop in the middle.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, well, that's. Yeah. And then we do the smell the bacon thing. That. That came to life. Live.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Numerous other. Numerous other shenanigans or live isms.

[Interviewer 2]

We played right before for you at Copenhell.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Last year, the last time I. I think we saw each other and. Or two years ago now. And we. We were only able to stay for a couple songs.

[Freddy Madball]

Okay.

[Interviewer 2]

And then we literally had to go to wherever the next show is. But watching. Watching you interact, do those kinds of things with the crowd is. Is. It's funny to hear you say that. You were once kind of awkward. All about business. Let's just play and go very to how you are now, you know? Has this started to catch on by this time?

[Freddy Madball]

If I look my way a little more. A little more. I mean, like with every year, it's like repetition, you know, like with every year that you're a band or like with every show, you're a little more confident, a little more open, you know, I feel like I was super awkward and super shy. Like, you know, I just wanted to go out there and play. Like, I was like, I don't know. I'm not going to like, give some kind of deep speech about whatever. Like, I'm like, I'm just, you know, but like, as you keep growing in this thing, you realize that, yes, you. They're there to hear the songs and all that, but they also want to hear from you. And like, they do want to, you know.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Chat a little.

[Interviewer 1]

Who is this guy?

[Freddy Madball]

You know what I mean? They want to chat a little bit. So like. But that all happened, like, just with years of doing it and like, especially in the festivals are Hard because the festivals are weird, because you have that separation. You know, at a club, it's. It's easier to get more comfortable when you're right there in the mix in a room full of people. You're like, hey, what's up, buddy? What are you doing? You know, like, you can play off of the crowd a little bit better.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

In a. In a. In a. In that environment. But the festival setting is, like, very daunting. Very. Like, you're all the way over there, and I gotta figure out a way not only for my music and the energy to reach you, but also, like, whatever I'm gonna say, like, has to, like, get a reaction. It's like, man, this is crazy. But now we've gotten, like, more comfortable.

[Interviewer 2]

You got it locked in.

[Interviewer 1]

Do you prefer to play with or without a barricade?

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, without. Yeah, yeah. That's just not even a question. I hate barricades. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

As do we all.

[Freddy Madball]

I hate barricades.

[Interviewer 2]

The most dangerous thing at a show.

[Freddy Madball]

It's stupid.

[Interviewer 1]

Amen.

[Freddy Madball]

I mean, they got the platforms that they do nowadays, which is, like, I guess, a happy medium of, like, you know, like, there'll be festivals that, like, put out the platform, which is. It's better than a barricade. Absolutely. Actually, don't mind it.

[Interviewer 2]

The mini stage.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, I like the mini stage.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, I like those things, you know, I like, go that route. Like, skip the barricade. Like, barricades are weird. That's for, like. Yeah. I don't know, rock. I don't know.

[Interviewer 2]

It's interesting.

[Freddy Madball]

But I. I try to go out there and still engage.

[Interviewer 1]

Get up on it.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, engage people, man. What can you do, you know?

[Interviewer 1]

So now Epitaph comes along and it's time for the next step and yet another one of the greatest hardcore records ever made.

[Interviewer 2]

Oh, I have said on this show.

[Freddy Madball]

That's too nice.

[Interviewer 2]

I've said multiple times that Can't Stop, Won't Stop, I think is a perfect modern hardcore song. Start to finish lyrics, the actual. The actual riffs, big chorus. I can't believe it.

[Freddy Madball]

It's fast.

[Interviewer 2]

It's fast.

[Freddy Madball]

But then it has, like.

[Interviewer 1]

It's as good as it gets, really.

[Interviewer 2]

It's as good as it gets.

[Freddy Madball]

Thank you, man.

[Interviewer 2]

And then it goes straight into the title track, which hits so hard.

[Interviewer 1]

Straight into fall this time, which, like, let's say aliens crash land on Earth.

[Interviewer 2]

Okay, go.

[Interviewer 1]

And they say, what is hardcore? You could go, can't stop, won't stop. Hold it down for all this time and say, aliens here's this. Take it away. Go wild.

[Interviewer 2]

Enjoy.

[Interviewer 1]

They'll come back and they'll understand.

[Freddy Madball]

You guys are awesome. Thank you. That's very, very kind.

[Interviewer 1]

You make it easy. How does Epitaph.

[Freddy Madball]

Obviously not solely responsible for that. All my guys, of course, the royal.

[Interviewer 1]

You make it easy. How does Epitaph enter the picture here?

[Freddy Madball]

I forgot how we linked up with Brett, but I think there was some interest from out west from Brett and his camp. And we were on the fence about it because like, we're like an east coast band, New York, blah, blah, blah.

[Interviewer 1]

Interesting.

[Freddy Madball]

And we were like, is that the right place for us? Is that the right home? You know?

[Interviewer 1]

So you looked at Epitaph as just this like California punk.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, totally.

[Interviewer 1]

Interesting.

[Freddy Madball]

Totally. I don't think Epitaph back then was the epitaph that it is now even, you know, Cuz like, I mean that like, you know, like. So it was like, I don't know, seemed like heavily west coast and like, not even like our, like our genre per se, like, you know. Yeah, more punk.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Punk, but not like hardcore, like heavier or whatever. So we were a little apprehensive. But then it was like again, one of those things where like there's not a million people knocking on our door, you know, but they don't know that. They don't know that. And there's a couple, I'm sure there were a couple like smaller up and coming labels that might have been like, yeah, let's. You know. But I forget the exact connection with Brett. But we end up working something out with them and we drop Hold it down. Which I'm glad you guys appreciate that record.

[Interviewer 1]

I think our whole generation does.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, that, that, that is often I. I find like when I was getting into this kind of music at all, it was, it was.

[Freddy Madball]

Set it off.

[Interviewer 2]

Hold it down. And then we'll get to the New York Hardcore ep because it had just come out around that time.

[Freddy Madball]

Right, right.

[Interviewer 2]

But yeah, I feel like it's like a ret. Like a. I don't know, not a return to form necessarily, but just like a. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

A blueprint for the next generation.

[Interviewer 2]

Yes.

[Freddy Madball]

I always felt like any of our stuff from like 2000 down, if I were to have to pick a record, a personal one that I want, that I like and also one to show people an example of our band, it would probably be Hold It Down.

[Interviewer 2]

It's awesome.

[Freddy Madball]

Over set it off and all those, you know, not that, you know, everyone likes what they like. Yeah. Came. Came into this thing at a Different time. So that's also something, you know, it's just a.

[Interviewer 2]

It's a definitive Mad Ball record. It sounds like Mad Ball in the best.

[Freddy Madball]

It's where I felt the most comfortable. It's probably the first time I liked my vocals.

[Interviewer 1]

Wow. I mean, I think this is like. You sound like you now.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

This is 2000 and on this is. We're getting this performance.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. I just wasn't worried anymore. And like we were kind of living kind of wildish or like I would just go in there and like belt it out and then it was just kind of like happened like. I don't know. It was for me, production wise and just like how they captured my vocals. Just not to make it about me, but like. You know what I'm saying?

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Like, in comparison to like sending off and like demonstrating the sound of my vocals felt a little too thin, you know, Like I can like nitpick about a lot of things with. With us, but like song wise and performance wise and everything, I felt like that was definitely one of our better outputs.

[Interviewer 1]

Agreed.

[Interviewer 2]

And this was. Was this Matt Henderson produced?

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. And wrote.

[Interviewer 2]

Oh, and he wrote.

[Freddy Madball]

He was a part of the writing process.

[Interviewer 2]

Did he track guitarist on this?

[Freddy Madball]

Yep.

[Interviewer 2]

Okay. Okay. But this is the last one.

[Freddy Madball]

This is the last one. He's not in the band.

[Interviewer 2]

Right. But he. I got you.

[Freddy Madball]

He's not in the band, but he's involved and he writes.

[Interviewer 2]

Can't stop. One stop.

[Freddy Madball]

I believe so.

[Interviewer 1]

Guy's good. He's been saying he's sick in the hell. Who.

[Interviewer 2]

Who?

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. Who was part of the writing process for this?

[Freddy Madball]

Same, same, same. Usual suspect. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Us. Us. As far as like. Yeah, yeah. Yep. It was like Matty Hoya, myself. The other guys were. It was. Darren played drums, which he did a really good job. He played a maximum penalty and a couple other bands, but he did a good job. He's a hell of a drummer. And Beto, I don't know if he played on the record though. I feel like he was part of the lineup that came like, right, like right after we dropped it. But I don't know that he played on the record, but. Yeah, same like the writers were like Matty Hoy and myself.

[Interviewer 1]

But the record for the first time ever was executive produced by Roger. By Roger.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Tell me about that.

[Freddy Madball]

Roger was managing us at the time, so him and Billy Milano. Hey. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

All right.

[Freddy Madball]

He's, you know, old friend of my brothers and like old. Old hardcore head and New York hardcore head. And so we all Old friend of ours, and he was. I feel like they. I want to say they had an office at, like, Big Blue Meanie where the. Where the record was recorded. And so, yeah, that was kind of the connection where, like, they had an office there. They put us on the Big Blue Meanie, which I thought was a good option, a good choice. It was close. Like, we could go over to Jerk. You know, we were all living in the city, but we can come to Jersey and record and go home. It was cool. And I just sonic everything about it. I liked the whole experience. It was cool, it was comfortable, and they were there. So, like, yeah, we gave him an executive producer credit because, like, that's all it was, made it happen, but not really.

[Interviewer 1]

So he wasn't part of, like, the writing process or anything?

[Freddy Madball]

No, it was more the executive side.

[Interviewer 2]

Gotcha. Heavy emphasis on the exit.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

So any fond memories of touring throughout this time? Did you get to tour throughout this time?

[Freddy Madball]

Yes, we did. We did some stuff in the States. Went to Europe a couple of times in 2000, maybe. Like I said, I was having some legal stuff around there. So then I was out of the picture for a little bit. And then, yeah, I was out of the picture for a little bit. And then when I came back into the mix, we had some issues with the guys, I think the guys, to be fair, man, you know, like, it was a lot like, for, like, Beto and Darren. Like, we were kind of pissed at them for a while, but if you look at it from their perspective, they were walking into, you know, there was a lot going on. Like, I mean, sure, there was this cool album that we did, but maybe

[Interviewer 1]

the best one, you know, internally as well.

[Freddy Madball]

But there was, like, a lot of, like, personal stuff, especially with me. And, like, you know, like, I was like a powder keg, you know, like, I was like. It was like, you know, so it was maybe scary to them. It was maybe intimidating for them to commit to, like, this band. And I think it was also like, they had jobs and other stuff in their lives and they weren't so sure that they wanted to, like, tour. And the reason I bring this up is they were kind of instrumental in us, like, going on hiatus because it was kind of like, okay, these guys don't. Kind of don't want to tour. And then we were just kind of like, well, we need a break. Like, maybe we should just shouldn't even drag this through the mud. Maybe we should just be done.

[Interviewer 1]

Wow.

[Freddy Madball]

And it was not like a wise. It wasn't thought through that well, but like it was, you know, a meathead decision, but a decision we made. And so then, yeah, it, there was some touring for Hold it down, but then like it kind of got shut off.

[Interviewer 2]

Did you play a last show or anything?

[Freddy Madball]

We played a last tour in Europe,

[Interviewer 1]

like, and it felt like that.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. And actually Mitts played that tour with us. Okay, so in. I see in came Mitts at the end. Yeah. When it was the end. Supposed to be the end.

[Interviewer 2]

He.

[Freddy Madball]

We knew him from Scarhead, whatever. So Mitts jumped in to do that tour and. But that wasn't the end.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, yeah, I mean you've been, you Mad Ball has now existed within three different decades. And you're 25 years old, you know, like 80s 90s, 2000s, you've existed throughout all of that. And now do you, at this point, do you now understand what Roger was feeling in like 93 to 96?

[Interviewer 2]

Aha.

[Freddy Madball]

Absolutely.

[Interviewer 2]

How interesting.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, good way to frame that. I mean. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah, the scene's weird, you know, like things are weird with us, you know, and, and, and a lot of it is, A lot of it, it is, is, you know, self inflicted.

[Interviewer 2]

Early 2000 scene was weird.

[Freddy Madball]

It was weird.

[Interviewer 1]

It was weird.

[Freddy Madball]

It was weird. And you know, Europe still had love for us. Like when we did that final tour, it was a good tour, good turnouts, like it was still cool. But yeah, everything sort of imploded and like lineup, you know, those guys took off. And it's not like we couldn't find other musicians, but we just were like, yeah, screw this. And I mean, in hindsight we should have just probably said we're gonna take a break instead of being like we're breaking up, you know, it's kind of silly. But ultimately we did resurface.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

You know, but we had like a year and a half, two years of like no Mad Ball, you know, and in that time I met my girl who became my wife. Been together, you know, 22, 25 years. 22 years married. So like a lot of good things happened in that time. A lot of like very bad things and then very good things happened in that space of time.

[Interviewer 1]

You know, one of them is September 11th.

[Freddy Madball]

Right.

[Interviewer 1]

And I have this photo here.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh man, that's my. That's my wife. Yeah,

[Interviewer 1]

sure, we'll show everybody too.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, that's a crazy picture. You showed me that.

[Freddy Madball]

That's Brooklyn.

[Interviewer 1]

Like, honestly, a harrowing, beautiful photo, like museum esque in a way.

[Freddy Madball]

Thanks, man. My sister in law took that photo

[Interviewer 1]

and like to have that thought in that moment of like, holy shit. The most devastating thing that we've ever seen just happening. I should take a photo of them right now is like, it's amazing that she had.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. My wife was crying and so I was consoling her and holding her and her sister. You can't. You know, at that time, I love my sister in law, Lizzie. I love her. She's. You couldn't take a camera. Like, she took photographs of everything, you know, and still she's like that. Like, we always count on her. Like family things. Like, Lizzie will get pictures. She'll get it, you know, like, so like she's. And she's a great photographer and she just had a camera in her hand, like. And just like went up there and like we were up on the roof of. That's like on New. I want to say that might have been on Newell in Greenpoint in Brooklyn. And it was actually their apartment. It wasn't my place, it was. My wife and her sister had an apartment and I had spent the night there and woke up to, yeah, Twin Towers. And so I was the only dude with these two ladies. So it was also felt the sense of responsibility to be like, okay, what do I do? I can't do anything, but I'm just gonna be here. I'm gonna hold it down, you know, so. No pun intended. Yeah, but you know what I mean. So, like. And then. And now. Yeah, so my wife was crying and we were watching the smoke and the whole thing. Ashes are coming into Brooklyn. Like, you can see the ashes. She snapped that picture.

[Interviewer 1]

And what was that day like? Do you recall, like connecting with, you know, Stigma or your brother or anything?

[Freddy Madball]

I want to say I tried to figure out. I tried to reach out to my brother to make sure he was okay. Yeah, I mean, obviously you communicate with your friends. And then like, I was. Yeah, like you said, like Vinnie and them who are in the city.

[Interviewer 1]

Right.

[Freddy Madball]

There were a couple people that, that we were close to that were in the city. And yes, we checked in on them. They're good. Okay, cool. You know, then you hear about some. Some. Someone so. And so's cousin he lost. A cousin he lost. And then it's like, oh, man. So crazy. I want to say Hoya's brother Dave was down there and like right down in the mix of it, he. He ended up being okay. But he. He passed some years ago now, but. But unrelated to that, but rest in peace, Dave. But he was there. There were a couple people that I knew that were there, like you know, clouds of smoke like hitting them and like soot all over them and like. Yeah, it was like, it was pretty intense.

[Interviewer 1]

And are they like you said, it's unrelated, but like now they're finding that more people are dying from related effects to the aftermath.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Than died in the actual event.

[Freddy Madball]

I. I gotta thank my wife because there was at one point I said, should I go down there and help?

[Interviewer 2]

Like, yeah, like, whatever that could mean.

[Freddy Madball]

Whatever that means. Because they were like, they were actively looking for like volunteers or whatever. And I remember. And she reminded, like, we talk about this, you know, and it's like I was like, should I go down there? Like, what can I do? Like, I'm not like a structural engineer or anything, but like, I'm an able bodied young guy, pretty strong. I can do something.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

You know. And she was like, don't, don't go. She's like, there's a lot of people going there. It's gonna be a mess. Who knows? Danger, you know, of course. Typical. Like what your lady would tell you, like, don't just, just wait, you know. And like, I knew my friends were good and so we just kind of waited it out and thank God for that. Man, I'm glad, I'm glad I didn't go down there. I'm sorry to the people that that did. Because there's a lot of like, bad stuff that happened to people after the fact. Yep.

[Interviewer 1]

How does New York change after that? And New York hardcore. Really great question.

[Interviewer 2]

We've never asked anyone who was there these questions.

[Freddy Madball]

How does New York change? It got friendlier for a moment. It was more like, like, it was like a humbling experience for everyone. Right. Like for the world, but especially in New York. So I feel like it gave people that dose of like, humility and also humanity. Like, hey, man. Like this, like, this is crazy. Like we, you know, we got attacked or whatever it was. So it's like there was like some camaraderie with the people of New York and like, you know, people were more inclined to help each other and stuff like that. At least that's what I got out of it, you know, because of this catastrophic event. Crazy thing that happened.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

But as far as the music scene, I don't. Man, what was even going on at the time. Oh my God. The early 2000s was so weird.

[Interviewer 2]

Were.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Were you checked out?

[Freddy Madball]

I was kind of checked out. I was kind of checked out. Yeah. I was like getting into all kinds of other goofiness, you know, putting myself in bad environments. But Kind of checked out from music.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

But the silver lining is you're with your now wife.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

It sounds like things are turning around because shortly thereafter, 2004, we have the first Mad Ball record. I was into hardcore. That came out like I went and bought it us blue, you know what I mean?

[Interviewer 1]

And music has changed so much in those four years.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Like Napster, mass hysteria. So that, that led us to like the streaming model that we're at today for sure. In that little gap. In that little gap where you guys were gone.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, yeah. Then you. Yeah, exactly that. You know, Napster came in, all this other kind of stuff started to happen. This digital stuff. Yeah, yeah, it definitely changed. And for us, like my mind wasn't on music, but I went to like an H2O show at CBs. Seabees was still doing stuff and I went to an H2O show and my wife had never seen me perform. And that ain't right. My mother in law was like visiting so she went to cbc. This was awesome. She could say that to people. Like I was at CBG and my sister in law was there. Like all these people came and it was just to go CH2O wasn't for me to. It wasn't a mad ball, obviously it was mad ball was no more at that moment. But Toby called me up to do Guilty by Association. And it's around that time, like right out, like I forget, like, oh, whatever. Whatever time period it was. And I go up and I do Guilty by Association. And then I go back sitting down and like all the ladies are like, what the hell was that? And they're like. And I'm like, whatever. Like they had never seen me perform. They had never. You know, they didn't.

[Interviewer 1]

And it hasn't been that long.

[Freddy Madball]

Hadn't been that long. But you know, in that short amount of time, a lot goes on.

[Interviewer 2]

I'm assuming your mother in law didn't come from a punk or hardcore background. No, she would have no idea.

[Freddy Madball]

God, no. And we were just. She was visiting and I was like, hey, I want to go to my buddy's show. I wasn't sure if I was going to sing or not or whatever, but I was like, let's go see a show at CBs. That might be cool. And they were like, yeah, let's go. Like Mom Dukes was like, let's go. I want to see cbg. Like, wow. Yeah, she, her background is not that at all. Great people though. I love these people. They're. I mean they're my family.

[Interviewer 2]

Did that give.

[Freddy Madball]

The point of that is when I did that, like my wife was like, like, you're pretty good at that. Like, like, why don't you do that? Like, you know, because not to say too much, but I was not doing like the most positive stuff. I was doing other things. And so I feel she was trying to anything. That's not bad. Of course, you know, and I did have on and off, like this moving job and I did some other like, legit stuff, but I was doing not. Not so good stuff too. But so that was just another positive thing. And then shortly after that, we decided to do a reunion show and Mad Ball comes back, you know, so that kind of influenced, you know. Yeah, yeah, kind of influenced.

[Interviewer 1]

Same thing as af, right? In your settings.

[Freddy Madball]

And I don't even know if Toby knows this or not. Cause those convos were more behind the scenes. But it definitely sparked something. And where people were like, in my ear, like, you know, you're only 20 something years old.

[Interviewer 1]

Hardcore's so weird.

[Freddy Madball]

You know what I mean? It's like you're.

[Interviewer 2]

We need Mad Ball.

[Interviewer 1]

We need Mad Ball. Hardcore. So weird. Now.

[Freddy Madball]

There you go.

[Interviewer 2]

The song for My Enemy is the first song on the ep. The New York Hardcore ep. Who did Mitts write that?

[Freddy Madball]

Might have been Hoya.

[Interviewer 2]

Great song.

[Freddy Madball]

Might have been a Hoya Mitts collab.

[Interviewer 2]

Sure, sure, sure. Great song.

[Freddy Madball]

Because there's a lot of that, like I said, man, like, there's a lot of collaborating going on. Like with Matt Ball, like, it was always, you know. Yeah. There's certain songs where it's like, yeah, that's more Maddie. Oh, that's more Hoya. That's. But there was always like a. You know, it was always collaborative for the most part. I'm going to ask Mitts about that because he did. He did. He doesn't get enough credit and he has written songs that are important that he maybe doesn't get credit.

[Interviewer 1]

You had some, some. Maybe both or some live staples in Legacy, which is like, to do that this far into your career. Have like Heaven, Hell, Hardcore, Pride, the song. Yeah, it's. It's rare that a band can get these songs that they can play forever. This late. Was the gap from Hold it down to now something that pushed you to go harder on this, the EP and Legacy?

[Freddy Madball]

I mean, possibly. Yeah. The fact that we had been like inactive for a while and then like hadn't put out a record for a while. Yeah, maybe we felt like we had something to prove because Mad Ball is

[Interviewer 1]

Back is the byline now, you know?

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

[Interviewer 2]

And when this is happening, when you're kind of getting back into it, you got the bug again.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Are you checking out, like, does Terror come across your radar at that time?

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, yeah, they came across our radar around that time. We were, we were. I feel like we were on a tour doing some shows with Hate Breed or something like that. Like right around when, like Legacy came out.

[Interviewer 1]

Sean Martin's on backups on the record and.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, right, yeah, yeah, he did come through for that. Yeah, that was cool. I mean, that, I mean that was like a leveled up production. I feel like, you know, going to Zeus and like all that and then like. Yeah, we were trying to step up in every way, you know, like, musically, lyrically, was trying to like, you know, we, you know, like, we've been at this for a little bit now. Like, we gotta like, show people. Like we still, we still have something to say, we still have something to offer. So there was definitely that vibe. But Tara came across our path on a show. I feel like we were in Canada or something. I don't know. And like, they got thrown on the bill. We were like doing some Hate Breed shows and they got thrown on a bill. And I had heard the name. Somebody had mentioned to me, there's a new band. There's like a new band out. They got a little buzz right now and I'm like, and, oh, you got to check out this band. They're actually playing this show today. And I checked them out that day and I was like, okay.

[Interviewer 1]

And that had to have been very.

[Freddy Madball]

I was like, I was like, they, they, they got something going on here

[Interviewer 1]

and Were you familiar with Buried Alive or any of their.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Scott's other stuff? Yeah, I, I was familiar with the names, you know, but like, I wasn't like homies with Scott or anything like that, so it wasn't like that. But like, I knew the names. Like, I knew the names and the things he, you know, he was involved in, but I didn't, you know, Terror was like, yeah, it impressed me for sure. Like, I, I, I watched their set on that show and I was like, okay, they mean business. You know, perhaps hardcore lives. Hardcore might just perhaps live. Yeah, exactly. No, but I, well, that, and, and, and that's, and you're correct to say that because it always feels good when you see a band that gets it and delivers it, because that's not always the case, you know, and this probably rings true throughout all genres. But I love When I see those bands that get it. Yeah. Yeah. And I could tell that they get it. Like, I was like, oh, they get it. Like, their style, their output. Like, they get it, you know? You know. Cause some bands you see, and then, like, I'm not knocking. I don't want to knock anyone's efforts or talents or art ever. But, like, some. Some people, they just. They, you know, they don't. You know, it. It doesn't translate.

[Interviewer 2]

It's a genre where authenticity, as we often say, is the most important thing.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And it be. You can stick around long enough.

[Freddy Madball]

You can see. Yeah. And. And. And. And I was right about them. They. They. They stuck around because I saw them. I've also seen bands that I was impressed by that were. For about a year.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, of course.

[Freddy Madball]

You know what I mean? Oh, they were cool.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

You know, so it's like. And then that's, like, with anything. That's with anything. But, like, yo, they were one that I was like, yo, they're. They're. That's a good. That's a solid band right there. And then, you know, then I obviously crossed paths with them more, and then we ultimately ended up touring in Europe together and doing stuff, and I got to know them better and, like. Yeah, I mean, we're, you know, we're very cool with Terror guys, of course.

[Interviewer 1]

What is the response to Legacy, like, at that time? Cause I like My generation. That was the new Mad Ball record, you know, and it was. It was. It connected.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Did you feel.

[Freddy Madball]

I think it was decent. Yeah. I think it was cool. I think. I think so. I mean, I'm trying to remember tours that we did. We did something with, like, Walls of Jericho, and then we did, like, a tour. Like, we did a bunch of, like, random things, but I feel like it. I feel like it. I feel like we got on people's radar again. Like, I feel like we did 100%. Yeah. And then the Heaven Hell video dropped, and, like, I feel like we were on our way to be like, hey, we're back.

[Interviewer 2]

And, you know, I was 14, 15. You got on my radar, period.

[Freddy Madball]

You know what I mean?

[Interviewer 2]

So, for what it's worth, you know. Absolutely.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

What was the first European tour post Mad Ball reunion? Like, bigger crowds than ever, other than Dynamo.

[Freddy Madball]

I don't know that it was, like, crazy overwhelmingly big, but I would say probably pretty. Pretty solid.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay.

[Freddy Madball]

Pretty solid. Europe's just consistent, man. They're just. They ride with you, man.

[Interviewer 2]

With you.

[Freddy Madball]

They ride with you. Yeah. Once you got them, I mean, you know, and. But that, that keeps you honest, right?

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Because it's not just hype driven. It's like, you know, you can. You gotta show your stuff out there and then if you stick with them, they stick with you and it's reciprocated and it's awesome, you know, where America is a little bit more hype driven. You know, it's like, you know, you know, you could.

[Interviewer 1]

It's about the new here.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, whatever, you know, Instagram and this and that. And it's like very, you know, and that's not. I'm not knocking any bands here either. But it's just, it's just a different, culturally different. You know.

[Interviewer 1]

Before we move on, I have one more thing I forgot. September 11th happens on the day that. As the, the anniversary of rabies passing away.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Was that something on your minds that day already?

[Freddy Madball]

I mean, I mean, what happened probably like you know, trumps it all, you know, like you're not. But yeah, I mean it is pretty crazy that it's like.

[Interviewer 1]

Because that date was like immortalized on shirts.

[Freddy Madball]

Yes and all kinds of yes before. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think it was more like an afterthought thing. But yeah, it is kind of, it is kind of weird dark day. Yeah. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Weird dark sided. Two years later. Infiltrate the system. Yeah, I went to like five shows on this tour.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, okay, cool.

[Interviewer 1]

I definitely went to some nice opening track. I remember hearing very vividly the day it went up and just thinking like vintage Mad Ball. They've done it again. Who, who's writing this record now? Usual suspects.

[Freddy Madball]

More mids now obviously. I mean. Yeah, the usual suspects as far as like Hoya Mitt, myself. Riggs was playing drums. That's right. You know, whatever you want to say about the guy. Very good drummer. Very solid drummer. He, he, he did his thing with the drums on that record too. Like he really. I remember there was a couple things where I was like, you know, maybe let him rock a beat real quick and like let's, let's get inspired by that, you know, and that, that was like a thing that like we had never really done.

[Interviewer 1]

Interesting.

[Freddy Madball]

You know what I mean? Writing a round drum. Yeah. Like kind of like, what do you. What are you here for this or like, you know what I mean? Like we did like we, we were like. We experimented a little bit as much as we could. But yeah, usual suspects writing and my lyrics, you know, like. Yeah, yep, yep, all that.

[Interviewer 2]

Another big music video for the title track on this where there is like a crazy Cast of characters in the video. Okay, there's Stigma.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

There's Ja.

[Freddy Madball]

Infiltrate the system.

[Interviewer 2]

There's Isaac. There's a guy named Rico.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, yeah, he was homie Rico.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah. Was he a bouncer at Seabee's back in the day?

[Freddy Madball]

Could have been.

[Interviewer 2]

I believe he's one of the guys in like, the Underdog set.

[Freddy Madball]

He's an old New York skin. Yeah, he's, you know, he's one of, he's one of our homies. You know, he's one of my guys. He might have. Yeah, it could very well be. Or it could have. There were these.

[Interviewer 2]

It sure looks like him.

[Freddy Madball]

There were also these twins that were bouncers there that we used to know, you know, from like, you know, even outside of like, CBs. But like Frank and James, these two, like, I don't think they were twins, but they were like close brothers. They were brothers, but they were like, you know, close in age but not twins.

[Interviewer 2]

But were they like, were they like power lifter huge?

[Freddy Madball]

They look like two power lifters.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, been them.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, they look like two power lifter guys. And. But yeah, they ended up like bouncing at hip hop clubs that we would go to sometimes and stuff like that. So like, we would see them in other circles, but like, yeah, they were, they were like, they were security there. But I'm not sure if if Rico did security for CBs, but could, could, could be.

[Interviewer 2]

Sure.

[Freddy Madball]

He, he, he, he might have, he might have done it.

[Interviewer 2]

Jimmy's in the video. It's just, you know, kind of everybody.

[Freddy Madball]

Yep.

[Interviewer 2]

It's very cool.

[Freddy Madball]

And Frank from Obituary.

[Interviewer 1]

And how cool is that?

[Interviewer 2]

It's unbelievable. And I don't know if I've mentioned this. We love to know things and, you know, that is, I think that is a video where it's like, you do have to know who like all people are. And the message of infiltrate the system, like, it's a very cool concept for fans of the genre.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, one could say thank you.

[Interviewer 1]

I mean, one could say hardcore has infiltrated the system now in.

[Freddy Madball]

Now more than ever.

[Interviewer 1]

Movies, tv, Taco Bell. We're everywhere.

[Interviewer 2]

Grammys.

[Freddy Madball]

Is it, Is the Taco Bell the. Is it turnstile related?

[Interviewer 1]

Turnstile? Military gun. There's a few.

[Freddy Madball]

Really?

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. Scowl.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Where's the heart? Where's the hardcore person? In that, in that, in that corporation? They're somewhere.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. That's all. Let us all know. Hit Freddie up.

[Freddy Madball]

No, you're right, you're right, it has. And I mean, that was sort of where I was going with that. And the fact that it's happening is pretty. It's pretty cool.

[Interviewer 2]

Interesting.

[Interviewer 1]

How do you feel about Turnstile being the first hardcore band to win a Grammy?

[Freddy Madball]

God bless them. Yeah, good for them, man.

[Interviewer 2]

That's right.

[Freddy Madball]

Good for them. You know, we agree. I think again, they're another band that, like, has. They've transcended, like, you know, this was their starting ground. The hardcore was definitely where they came from, but, like, they've gone somewhere else.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, sure.

[Freddy Madball]

And as long as they don't forget where they come from, they never will. Then it's all good. That's how I look at it. Agreed. And like, yeah, man, go into that world and go snatch them up. I was actually texting with Vitalo the night that they won the Grammy and I was like, I can't believe that hardcore is even that in the vicinity of like a Grammy. But like, these dudes, like, hardcore kids have won a Grammy. That's like wild. Like, I would have never 50 years, million years thought that possible. You know what I mean? That's such a specific and exclusive, you know, like. Like it's just a weird world that I didn't associate with our world. Yeah, of course. But good for them, man. Yeah, good for them.

[Interviewer 2]

Amen.

[Freddy Madball]

We saw, we, you know, we brought them out, we did a set it off 25 year anniversary tour and, you know, we hand picked them. It was Turnstile. I think it was like down presser at the time, all these bands and we, like, you know. You know, I could see that they had something, you know what I mean? And like, yeah, man, they deserve it. Good for them.

[Interviewer 1]

I'd like to play a little game if you're open to that.

[Freddy Madball]

Okay.

[Interviewer 1]

I'm gonna list off some bands.

[Interviewer 2]

Okay.

[Interviewer 1]

If you could tell me the first word that comes to mind.

[Freddy Madball]

First word? Yeah, that comes to mind.

[Interviewer 1]

Maybe the first couple, but, you know. Okay, you get it.

[Interviewer 2]

I just realized why you're doing this, by the way.

[Freddy Madball]

Okay, let's go.

[Interviewer 1]

Antidote.

[Freddy Madball]

Classic.

[Interviewer 1]

Carnivore.

[Freddy Madball]

Hard.

[Interviewer 1]

Crumb. Suckers.

[Freddy Madball]

Harder.

[Interviewer 1]

The Ice Men.

[Freddy Madball]

Cool.

[Interviewer 1]

Leeway.

[Interviewer 2]

Dope.

[Interviewer 1]

The Misfits.

[Freddy Madball]

The Misfits. The Misfits. What can I say for them? I'm trying to think of like a one word.

[Interviewer 1]

No, you can make a. You can do a phrase.

[Freddy Madball]

Misfits. Iconic.

[Interviewer 1]

There you go. You killed that.

[Freddy Madball]

Straight ahead, Scully.

[Interviewer 1]

Bold.

[Freddy Madball]

Bold. Influential.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay. Yeah, yeah. Breakdown.

[Freddy Madball]

Ooh. Groove.

[Interviewer 2]

Oh, yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Burn.

[Freddy Madball]

Fire.

[Interviewer 1]

Gorilla. Biscuits.

[Freddy Madball]

Cool.

[Interviewer 1]

Judge.

[Freddy Madball]

Judge. Wow.

[Interviewer 1]

Wow.

[Freddy Madball]

Straight Edge. Hard.

[Interviewer 1]

That's right. Underdog.

[Freddy Madball]

Unique.

[Interviewer 1]

Into another.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, even More so.

[Interviewer 1]

Life of Agony.

[Freddy Madball]

I like Life of Agony. I mean. No, I do.

[Interviewer 1]

There's a video of you singing underground, I think.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Like just before.

[Freddy Madball]

I really dig it. I did. I. I was really into. When they. When they first dropped, I was like, this is dope. Yeah. I'm just trying to think of a one word or that that describes them.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Life of agony. Brooklyn.

[Interviewer 1]

There you go. Killing Time.

[Freddy Madball]

Ah. The best.

[Interviewer 1]

I agreed. Marauder.

[Freddy Madball]

Pretty hard.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Especially with Minus

[Interviewer 1]

Quicksand.

[Freddy Madball]

Quicksand. Eclectic.

[Interviewer 1]

There you go. That was a great answer. Crown of Thorns.

[Freddy Madball]

It's like if music was graffiti.

[Interviewer 2]

Whoa.

[Interviewer 1]

That was unbelievable. Unbelievable.

[Interviewer 2]

That was really good.

[Interviewer 1]

Indecision.

[Freddy Madball]

Indecision. Incision's pretty hard.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, pretty damn hard.

[Interviewer 1]

There you go. All out.

[Freddy Madball]

War Heavy.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. Last one's a fun one.

[Freddy Madball]

Okay.

[Interviewer 1]

Neglect.

[Freddy Madball]

Bloody.

[Interviewer 1]

I love it.

[Freddy Madball]

Bloody.

[Interviewer 1]

I love it. That was fun. That was word association with Freddie Madball. All right, so late 2000s, mad ball. Matt, you're still very much doing your thing while hardcore is doing something else. You know, melodic hardcore is like reigning supreme at this time. Yeah, but that era is about to end, I guess.

[Freddy Madball]

So. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

You know, I think Trap Under Ice comes along and things change. What comes to mind with the late 2000s? Kind of post legacy, post Infiltrate the System touring era for Madwall, I would say.

[Freddy Madball]

I mean, just. We were just in motion, man, doing what we do, you know, a lot of. A lot of Euro, a lot of Euro stuff. But, you know, always. We always mix it up, you know, in the. In the later years, we've done like more strategic touring where it's like, we don't go out for these crazy, long, grueling tours. We do like more like regional stuff, which I think helps, you know, keep the band sort of like, we're in the mix, but we're not overplaying or whatever. We're not playing ourselves out. But it's also beneficial to us family wise, you know what I mean? For me, especially hard touring, van touring shit sucks.

[Interviewer 2]

That's a young man's game.

[Freddy Madball]

It's a young man's game and I want no part of that. But I will. I will jump in there and get. And get. Get in there. If it's Makes sense.

[Interviewer 2]

If it makes sense.

[Freddy Madball]

If it makes sense. But so, yeah, like, I'm thinking late 2000s, what are we doing? Like, you know, we're. We're just. We're just playing, man. We're just doing. Doing what we do.

[Interviewer 1]

I saw you a lot, A lot of.

[Freddy Madball]

A lot of cool Euro Tours, though, a lot of, A lot of cool. They're still, you know, we're still, we're active, man. We. We stay in the fight.

[Interviewer 1]

You do Empire 2010.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Another decade has come and gone.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, yes.

[Interviewer 1]

Yet Mad Ball remains.

[Freddy Madball]

Yep.

[Interviewer 1]

What comes to mind for this, this era and this record?

[Freddy Madball]

Well, yeah, I mean, a lot, A lot comes to mind. That was, like, a weird year. There was a lot of stuff happening in people's personal lives and there was a lot going on, but, yeah, we still managed to, like, pull that one out. And I mean, I'm proud of that record like any other man. You know, it's like, it just was just, it, it was, you know, who we were at that time, you know, where we were, where we were at that time, you know. So would I rate Empire as our best record that we've ever done? Probably not, but I think that there's still a lot of, like, good songs on there. And, like, you know, we were just kind of just trying to, like, keep things going. And I mean, we had, you know, we had some drummer. Weird, weird stuff with some drummers. That certain guy that played on the. Jay who played on the record, but then he was. Soon after he was out after that, there was some weird lineup stuff.

[Interviewer 1]

So it was a weird time.

[Freddy Madball]

Weird time. Weird time. There was weird lineup stuff. There was some personal stuff going on with Hoya. There was, but, you know, like, we held it together, man. Like, and, you know, Mitts and I really worked hard to, like, keep that together, you know, because we had all these songs and all these different things, and we kind of really. We wanted to make sure that it was going to happen. You know, we wanted to make it happen. And so we did. And we did just that. And then I was the upside to that is. Did that come out in 2010?

[Interviewer 1]

That was 2010.

[Freddy Madball]

So I think my. Yeah, my wife was expecting during that record, so that was the, you know, beautiful thing.

[Interviewer 1]

Special time.

[Freddy Madball]

You know, my son was born in 2011, but, like, that was like, the year where, like, you know, so I was starting my family, so that side of it was great. But, yeah, I mean, yeah, I don't, I don't. I'm trying to think of highlights of, like, that year. Nothing super special, but we were, like, trekking along, man, and doing our things. We did something with Eric Rutan, which was different for us. Metal guy.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Great guy.

[Interviewer 2]

The metal.

[Freddy Madball]

Cool, Cool guy.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Awesome guy. And that opened up a relationship with me and him. With him. And I. Because then I, I, I Ended up producing an Agnostic Front record at his studio. So it was like. It was cool, you know. So, yeah, that. That, you know, that was. That was. It was a cool year. A lot. A lot of. A lot of cool things happen.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. I mean, I think hardcore got. That was like the start of another generation, for sure, you know.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. Who can't. Like. Yeah. Thinking about who's out at that time, like, who started Nails Trap?

[Interviewer 1]

Like I said, Trap and Rice. Sure.

[Interviewer 2]

Terror was still terrorists.

[Interviewer 1]

That was Keepers of faith, you know.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, yeah. So that. That was a good period for them. And.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, we started right around.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. That was when we became touring guys off the backs of.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

The way that Mad ball paved.

[Freddy Madball]

I feel like us and Tara did some Euro stuff around that time period.

[Interviewer 1]

I would bet my life.

[Freddy Madball]

So. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. So, yeah, no, it was good. It was a good time. I mean, the record, like I said, wasn't like our most, you know, talked about record or like, whatever. Like, it wasn't like our biggest. The biggest push we've ever gotten, but it was. It was a decent effort. I think it was a decent effort. And it was. Yeah, kept us going. And. And. And there's songs on there that I really, you know, I back.

[Interviewer 1]

I got you.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

As you should.

[Freddy Madball]

This.

[Interviewer 1]

This has nothing to do with the record, but.

[Freddy Madball]

Okay.

[Interviewer 1]

What do you think is the most underrated New York hardcore band of all time?

[Freddy Madball]

Rejuvenate.

[Interviewer 1]

Whoa, talk to me.

[Freddy Madball]

Rejuvenate. Tommy Rat. I mean, that was fast.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, you mean that? You mean rejuvenate?

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, I got it. Well, because I got to shout out Tommy Rat because to Tommy Ratt was like a fixture in a New York hardcore scene from the beginning, the very beginning, first day up until like, into the 90s, like, way, like maybe even into the 2000s. Like, he. He was like this old character that, like, man, like, if, you know. You know, like, Tommy Rat was like this classic dude. And like, ask Craig about Tommy Rat. Like, Craig's, like, best front man ever. But, like, he was. It wasn't like, he wasn't like, doing flips or anything. He just was like, he's. It's funny, man. But, like. Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna. I'm gonna give that to Tommy Rat.

[Interviewer 2]

Cool.

[Interviewer 1]

Respect.

[Freddy Madball]

But. But. But there's several. There's several. There's several. Underrated, sure. Terror wouldn't be underrated, right?

[Interviewer 1]

I think. I think to a modern audience, probably.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Okay.

[Interviewer 1]

Big time for me.

[Freddy Madball]

To me.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, no, same.

[Freddy Madball]

Not to me. But if we want to get more serious. Not that Rejuvenate's not serious, but, like, this is a little more serious. Yeah. I don't hear them in a lot of conversations nowadays. And, yeah, Paul's still out playing, you know, and does random tours and stuff, but, like, just stylistically and, you know, just. Yeah, I mean, they're super important to the New York hardcore movement.

[Interviewer 1]

Agreed.

[Freddy Madball]

Super important. Super important. And they're like, one of my favorites,

[Interviewer 1]

Hardcore Lives, the appropriately titled 8th LP.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. And almost forgot about that one.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. But you've been involved with hardcore for 30 years now, as of this record.

[Freddy Madball]

Has it been that long? Jeez.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, I think. I mean, now it's been.

[Freddy Madball]

Now it's been.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. Do you see an end in sight for Mad Ball, or is it just to the Till the Wheels Fall Off?

[Freddy Madball]

I don't know the end. Like, I don't see an end in sight. I don't know if it's Till the Wheels Fall Off. I mean, it's just kind of like I don't see an end in the very near future.

[Interviewer 1]

Good.

[Freddy Madball]

You know, only because we all feel good. I got a great group of guys. I mean, the album that we just wrote is, like, some of my favorite stuff that we've ever done.

[Interviewer 1]

Awesome.

[Freddy Madball]

So, like, it's hard to, like. And then our trajectory is still, like, good, you know, like, you know, we're still doing stuff where, like, I'm like, wow. Like, you know, we're still playing show. Like, we'll go to, like. We were just, like, had, like, one of our more successful Euro. Euro tours. Like, one of the more, you know, recent tours where we, you know, were doing festivals and club shows and, you know, and it was still, like, very vibrant and good. So I guess as long as it's good, it's a good answer for them. Good for us. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

I saw you three months ago in la.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

And your cardio's off the charts.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, thanks, man.

[Interviewer 1]

You ain't slowing down.

[Freddy Madball]

We try. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

What's your regimen like for that? How do you prep?

[Freddy Madball]

Nothing spectacular. Nothing, like, special.

[Interviewer 2]

Are you like a runner or anything?

[Freddy Madball]

No. Really? No, I do my running. I do my running on stage, man. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

I mean, that is a whole different beast of cardio 45. And there's no way to really prep for it.

[Freddy Madball]

It's repetition, man. It's just because I just been doing it as long as I've been doing it, and it's also, like, I really don't know any other way to do it with Mad Ball and That's part of it. It's like if I can't do it on a certain level or to a certain standard, then that would probably factor into me not doing anymore. And that applies to everything that applies to the music. Like if the standard's not up there with the songs, live performance, then that's when you have to evaluate or reevaluate what you're, what you're, what you're doing. But like we feel, we feel great. Like, we feel young, we feel inspired. Like, especially with this last album. I mean, you know, the, the lineup I have now is like the best. Like I like these guys. It's that same feeling like back in the days, like, these are my brothers. It's not like Babble's always had that family thing was like, I'm with my brothers, you know, like not just a dude. Yeah, that plays an instrument well and you know, he's just tagging along, he's just gonna. No, I'm with my brothers, you know, so, you know, Mike's my drummer's been with me 15 years now. It's like, these are the new guys. He's been with me 15 years. You know, even Mike Gurnary has been eight years in the band, you know, and then the most recent is Paul, you know, who, who finally, we finally got. We finally have a permanent, like a confirmed replacement for Hoya, which is like, it's tough. Things were like a little bit like we had like a team of guys, you know, and these are guys that have filled in for him in the past, mind you. Yeah, just Paul Delaney did a Europe tour 20 something years ago when Hoy couldn't come on a tour and he did it. So he's our original fill in guy. He's our original go to guy, ringer guy. But he's also a dear friend for 25 plus 30 years, you know what I mean? So like these are not just people we're pulling off the street or finding on the Internet like this. This is still a family operation and

[Interviewer 1]

those are big shoes to fill.

[Freddy Madball]

Yep, big. And if anyone knows Paul Delaney's playing, you'll know that he's going to be okay doing playing the bass because he's one hell of a bass player.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, I've seen him.

[Freddy Madball]

He's a hell of a bass player. Yeah, I mean he played with bands like Kill your Idols and classic, you know, New York stuff and like, you know, he has his own band, Black Anvil. But like he is a very solid bass player. So I'm not Worried about in that department. But yeah, no, man, it's. It's, it's. If anything, I see good things ahead.

[Interviewer 1]

Cool.

[Freddy Madball]

I see positive things. I see upwards movement. I see. I see a lot. I see a lot more happening. Especially with the state of hardcore now.

[Interviewer 2]

Exactly.

[Interviewer 1]

It's never been better.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

For the cause. 2018.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

As of now, the last Mad Ball record.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

But we know now know one's coming. Produced by the great Tim Armstrong.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

How was that experience?

[Freddy Madball]

It was cool. Timid. Tim had wanted, you know, we. We've been talking about working together for years and so he, he, he had, you know, he offered me his place and it's super, super cool studio, man. Like, really, really nice place. Really comfortable place. And yeah, we just talked about it and he was like, man, next record, bring it to my spot. And he only has, like, it's not open to the public, to everyone. It's like exclusively. Like, if he invites you, you know, you can use his studio. Cool. And so he invited us and like, took care of us, obviously, you know, like, financially was very fair and reasonable and like, all that. So, you know, because that is a part of the process and. Yeah, I mean, and we put that. We had a lot of it done before we went to him, so that was written like, we had a lot of the writing done and then we just went there and banged it out. And like, he was like, helpful. Like. Like, we bounce, like, you know, like timing stuff off of him, you know, like, like, like tempos. What do you think? Faster, slow. Like, there was a lot of little things like that where he was really good at. He wasn't super, like, invasive as a producer because I think he respects us too much and, and respects. Respects the time that we've put into this and that. We're at a point where we sort of know, like, what we're doing. We know our craft, you know, like, so that's not to say, mind you, I wouldn't have, like, I. I'm very open to, like, any ideas or whatever. Like, you. You're there, you know, super open to me.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Not like, don't tell me what to do, just put your name on the thing. Like, no, it wasn't like that, but it's like. But he had a lot of respect for, like, he respects us as a band and whatever. So he, like, let us kind of do our thing. But then he would chime in a little here and there and, you know, give his opinion or 2 cents or I would ask him, like, what do you Think about that. Should I go more this route or that, you know? But yeah, I. I love that record.

[Interviewer 1]

Hell, yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

I love the sound of it. I love the songs. Yeah. You know. You know, it was. It was a. It was a good time. I love it. Yeah. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Shortly after that, a year and a half, the world shuts down.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, boy.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, for another year and a half. On April 24, 2021, Mad Ball plays Tompkins Square park, which has a long history with hardcore. Beautiful history.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, really.

[Interviewer 1]

In the, like the first hardcore show post Pandemic, you opened with Lockdown, which is hilarious. Very self aware. What was that experience like? And did you see any of the blowback online from it?

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, yeah, yeah, we saw blowback. I mean, the experience was great. It was a great show.

[Interviewer 2]

It looked awesome.

[Freddy Madball]

It was fun. Every video I could find enough of this, like, locked up, you know, everyone being locked up nonsense and like, you know, I mean, whatever. Everyone went through what they had to go through and everyone has a different, you know, perspective on what went on or whatever. Won't get into all that, but clearly everyone was fed up. And in New York, there had been like a Joe Biden rally, like the week before, and there had been all these other things that happened out in the open that no one really shined a light on because it was okay politically or something, you know, like there was a rally with like 10,000 people for, like celebrating, you know, this and that, like, know. But like, those things were okay, but, like, people getting together to have fun is not okay. That was the kind of. The vibe, but sure, after the fact. But I mean, man, it was so positive. And like, I didn't even, like. Like when my friend Joey, like, mentioned it to me, the possibility of us doing a show, like, hey, there's a possibility we can get, you know, a show happening in the park. And it. Before he could even ask me, are you down? I was like, I'm in. And he was like, okay, that's all I wanted to hear. And I was like, yes, I'm in. Would you want a headline? Would you want to whatever? When I was like, I don't care. I don't care where I go on. I was like, it doesn't matter. I was like, you just want to play? Yeah, we just want to play. Everyone's tired of the nonsense and everything that's going on. And New York was about to open the doors anyway. Like, they were about to, like. Like, it was like a daily.

[Interviewer 1]

They did.

[Freddy Madball]

So it was like, yeah, we're doing it. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And so whoever the first show was gonna be was gonna get the flag.

[Interviewer 1]

You took the bullet for everybody.

[Interviewer 2]

It just happened to be you.

[Freddy Madball]

And I don't mind at all. It was one of my proudest moments doing Mad Ball. For the statement that we made doing it, looking at people's faces and how much fun they were having. I could. I. You know, I contributed to that. Yeah, I'm down. I'm with it. You know, people could say, oh, germs this, that. Hey, man, you know, you're not gonna get around that. That's everywhere. That's. I mean, like I said, the next day, they opened up the doors and everybody came outside.

[Interviewer 1]

Like, literally.

[Freddy Madball]

What's the difference? Yeah, you know, there's that meme of

[Interviewer 2]

Squidward watching Patrick and spongebob through the window that was, like, me on my phone watching everyone have fun at a MAD Ball show while I was.

[Freddy Madball]

It was so positive. And that's the thing. It's, like, to put a negative spin on it was, like, unfortunate, because when you got there, it was like, smiles, happiness, sunshine. All positive, you know? You, like. Crowd was great. Far back is I've never seen that many people in Tompkins Square park, and that was, like, my park. That was like. I lived on 10th street, which is right. Attack. Like, the park's right on the corner.

[Interviewer 1]

Were you at the breakdown show there in 1987 or 8?

[Freddy Madball]

I don't remember if I was at that breakdown show, but that's a classic video. Yeah, that's a classic one. I might have been. I don't know. Did a bunch of punk bands play that, too? Did Najee play that one?

[Interviewer 1]

I think so.

[Freddy Madball]

I might have been there.

[Interviewer 2]

I think Najee did play. It's awesome, actually.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, I think I might have been there. Yeah, that's a big maybe. But, yeah, Tompkins is great for. For shows. I mean, it's out, you know, it's also. It's. It's. It's. It's part of our history. Like, that area. I did the Ray B's, one of the rabies celebrations, you know, tribute, you know, to.

[Interviewer 1]

And the one that Fireburn played.

[Freddy Madball]

Yep, that was. That was awesome. You know, Todd Youth asked me to do. We were actually supposed to play a show. We were headed to a show in, like, Poughkeepsie or something, and then Todd asked me if I. If I would do a song, and I was like. And we, like, went. Did a song. Bounced. Yeah, we played a show, I think, that night. Yeah, but that was fun.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

I mean, there's an energy there, man. Like, the shows at Tompkins are, like. There's a vibe.

[Interviewer 2]

I'd love to go to one of those.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. But no one. No, no, it was no vibe like that one where when, you know, we, you know, when opened the doors without, you know, permission.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Gotcha. So there's a new madwall record coming. What else can you tell us about it?

[Freddy Madball]

I could tell you the name. It's called not yout Kingdom. And I could tell you that I could. I predict that you're gonna love the COVID It's a very throwback vibe.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay.

[Interviewer 2]

Okay.

[Freddy Madball]

Gives a nostalgic feel to it, but it's also current. It's very in line with, like, the lyrical content and the message. And it's by far the most diverse Mad Ball album. Even more so than for the cause, which I thought. For the Cause. We did a lot of melody. Yeah. We did a lot of different stuff, which we were happy to do because it's like, you can't just keep doing the same album over and over. It's like, you know. I mean, yeah, obviously you want to hear our sound or. But I like that we were venturing out and doing different stuff on that one. And this one is. Yeah. There's, like, some songs that are, like, reminiscent of, like, Can't Stop, Won't Stop.

[Interviewer 1]

That's awesome.

[Freddy Madball]

But then there's, like, some more, like, Doc Motor Stump vibes. Like, you know, vibes, like. But still Mad Ball. Still very Mad Ball. So it's very eclectic in the best way, I think. I think. I hope. I mean, I'm, you know, like, it's going to be for the people to judge. But I'm super proud of it. And writing with these guys was very natural. Was it, like, forced? It wasn't like, oh, well, you know, it's like, it was, you know, we all were, like, hungry. It's been, like, 2018, like, since we put out an album.

[Interviewer 1]

It is eight years. Yeah. It's time.

[Freddy Madball]

Do we have way too long?

[Interviewer 2]

Do we have a release date or a single drop?

[Freddy Madball]

May.

[Interviewer 2]

May.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. It kept getting pushed back because of this, like, nonsense. Like, the album was done, but then, like, we had to get a remix because we didn't, like, the first mix. And then artwork got held up, and then. Then you gotta wait for it to go into the, like, press nuclear blast, like, system, which is always like, why can't you just drop this tomorrow? Yeah, that's not how it works.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

So now it's finally, like, in the system. And it's going to come out in May.

[Interviewer 1]

Here we go. Soon.

[Freddy Madball]

It's gonna, you know, I think it's gonna. I think people are gonna dig it.

[Interviewer 1]

All right.

[Freddy Madball]

I hope so.

[Interviewer 1]

I can't wait to hear.

[Freddy Madball]

That's the hope.

[Interviewer 1]

So let's say Mad Ball's on tour right now and you're a little hungry, as I'm sure you are right now, as we all are.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, I'm getting there. Five hours later, it's hungry o'. Clock.

[Interviewer 1]

It is hungry o'. Clock. What's your poison? What are you into?

[Interviewer 2]

Whoa.

[Interviewer 1]

What's your favorite thing?

[Freddy Madball]

We're like, we've grown a little bit and evolved a little bit. I know you guys are like,

[Interviewer 1]

we like it all, but we will dive into the dumpster if we need to.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, but we dined fine.

[Interviewer 1]

Yes. Yeah, we did.

[Freddy Madball]

I think. I think the answer you're looking for is somewhere in the dumpster.

[Interviewer 1]

But I want to know the high rise culture.

[Freddy Madball]

Well, back in the days, we got into everything. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, just whatever was open.

[Interviewer 2]

Having a Cuban family and growing up in South Florida, I'd imagine you have some of the best food in the world down there.

[Freddy Madball]

My mom is a very good cook. Like, she definitely, like, she would cook for Agnostic Front. Like, that was like a traditional thing that would happen. Like, they would come on tour and my mom would make a feast for them and she only, like, she's been doing that up until like just like last year. She's getting a little older now. It's a little harder, but whatever. But like, she was doing that forever. Yeah, that was like a thing. So my mom could cook. So, yeah, Cuban food's like, it's just food to me. But as far as, like tour food, like, when we were younger, we'd get into whatever, you know, you name it, you know, Denny's, Waffle House, whatever, you know. But don't, you know all the, all the, all the, all the usual nonsense. I mean, in Europe, like, late night McDonald's runs.

[Interviewer 1]

That'll save you starving.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, that's. That's just kind of amazing.

[Interviewer 1]

Life affirming.

[Freddy Madball]

It's kind of amazing. Yeah, but we've gotten more sophisticated these days, like, over the years and, you know, we're getting a little older, so we have to act our age a little bit. So, like. Yeah, we. These days I just, like, look for, like, quality, man. Like solid, like mom and pop. Good, good. Like, good ingredients, preferably organic. If not, it's okay. Good quality, nice food. Doesn't have to be Michelin starred. If it is, I'm not mad. And talking about infiltrate the system. Like, we've met like chefs that are not like, oh, I work at a Michelin restaurant. Oh, really? Cool. Yeah, we know, like, you know what I mean? Crazy infiltrate. So it was like crazy, but like, yeah, we eat a little better now.

[Interviewer 1]

What's your. Okay, so let's say you're touring in the US and there's a city on the tour with a restaurant in it that you cannot wait to go to. What is that restaurant?

[Freddy Madball]

Quebec City. Let Ketchup.

[Interviewer 2]

Whoa, Quebec City?

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, and it's a weird name because it's like ketchup.

[Interviewer 1]

Ketchup.

[Freddy Madball]

Dude.

[Interviewer 2]

What kind of believable. What kind of food is it?

[Freddy Madball]

It's like French. Like, you know, so we're in Quebec, so a lot of French inspired stuff, but it's like their own thing. It's like, it's like new French Canadian.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay.

[Freddy Madball]

Like, I don't know, it's like modern French. Yeah, modern French, like, you know, with its own twist. Just really well sourced fish, meat, whatever it is. And the thing about that place is, like, it's a small, tiny little place. So you're lucky if you can get in there and get a seat. We've been lucky the last bunch of times to get in there. And they're cooking on like electric crazy wax stove. Like, you know, not like a, you know, high end, like, whatever. You know what I mean? Like a. You know, it's like, it's like very simple stuff. And they're making the most amazing food.

[Interviewer 1]

It's like, gotta go luck. Ketchup. You seen ratatouille?

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, yeah, of course.

[Interviewer 1]

You like it?

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah, I love it.

[Interviewer 1]

It's good, right?

[Freddy Madball]

It's great.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. No, that's what I'm saying. It's literally like his favorite. Yeah, it's the best one.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, I love it.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Okay. I knew you did. Like watching all those movies with my kids, you know, like. But that one, that's.

[Interviewer 1]

It's crazy.

[Interviewer 2]

That's the last time you watched Ratatouille?

[Interviewer 1]

Two days ago.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, on the way. We can watch it at home now when we get home.

[Interviewer 1]

Hungry enough where it'll. It'll really hit me.

[Freddy Madball]

But yeah, no, we, we. We eat better these days. We, we got it. We try to find. We try to, you know, find nice places you're waiting for, relax and, and eat something. And it might be one meal a day, you know, like, we'll do the coffee thing in the morning.

[Interviewer 2]

Yep.

[Freddy Madball]

And not Starbucks. Sorry, Starbucks. But we do like good mom and Pop. Good quality coffee spot. And maybe get a little snack there. But sometimes we only end up eating one real meal a day. So we figure if it's going to be one meal a day, it might as well be something good, decent.

[Interviewer 2]

Makes sense.

[Interviewer 1]

Mike DeJean told me he put agnostic front onto good coffee.

[Freddy Madball]

Could be.

[Interviewer 1]

And that they. That now Roger's like, mike, Mike, take us to your. Your next. Your gentrified coffee.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Where are we going here?

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. Oh, I would guarantee that. Yeah. I would concur. Yeah. Because they don't. They don't. They don't know about coffee and food like us.

[Interviewer 1]

They don't do.

[Freddy Madball]

They don't know. They don't. They don't need to, but they don't.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

But yes, it would take a Dijon. Yeah. To point them in the right direction in that department.

[Interviewer 1]

Gentrified coffee, for sure. All right, we've got one final question for you.

[Freddy Madball]

Wow.

[Interviewer 1]

Freddie Madball's top four hardcore records of all time.

[Freddy Madball]

Victim in Pain, Bright side, in that order. Sheer Terror. Thanks for Nothing.

[Interviewer 1]

Thanks for nothing.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Better recording than Ugly and Proud.

[Freddy Madball]

I just love the songs.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Those songs. That's like one of my favorite albums to ever come out of New York.

[Interviewer 1]

I agree.

[Freddy Madball]

It's. It's. It's. It's amazing.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

And maybe Negative approach. Total Recall. Yeah. I can't give it all to New York.

[Interviewer 1]

No, I gotcha.

[Freddy Madball]

You know, I mean, there's, of course, honorary mentions of Aja, Coro and Leeway and certain. You know, that's it.

[Interviewer 2]

That's it. Four great answers.

[Interviewer 1]

Great answer.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. You like those?

[Interviewer 1]

Oh, yeah, Yeah. I liked the Order. The Vixman fan. Bright side. I love to hear that. You love Bright side?

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah. That's awesome.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, yeah. You know, one of my favorites, Anthony's on a song on a new album. Really? Yeah. I got him to do a feature. I've been wanting that for years. And I finally was like, just gonna ask him. And then he was like, oh, man, Be honored. And he jumped and he killed it.

[Interviewer 1]

Clash of the Titan.

[Freddy Madball]

Sounds like Anthony. Sounds exactly how you would want Anthony to sound on a feature. It's like this. He took him from Bright side and inserted him into our song. That's amazing. I was like, I can't wait to hear it. Can't wait to hear it.

[Interviewer 2]

One more question, actually.

[Interviewer 1]

Oh, talk to him.

[Interviewer 2]

Do you say New York style before Can't Stop Won't stop Hoya. It's Hoya.

[Freddy Madball]

Yeah. And it's taken from an interview. It was snipped out of an interview.

[Interviewer 2]

Love it. Always wondered.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, I think he's an echo in the interview.

[Interviewer 2]

In your style.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, yeah. That was a little studio tricks. But saying that was from a Japanese thing that we did.

[Interviewer 2]

Oh, that's so fun.

[Freddy Madball]

It's cool. Just took it out and boom, Threw it in there. But it worked in it.

[Interviewer 2]

Yes, it did.

[Interviewer 1]

It sure did.

[Freddy Madball]

And, you know, we. We put all our homies, you know, my boy ld, we put his beats in there.

[Interviewer 2]

Oh, yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

Segways.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Freddy Madball]

I don't think a lot of people were doing that around that time. You know, we're like. That was like our homage to hip hop, but also a way to put on our people because it was like our. Our boys be stuff. So. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1]

Well, this just could not have been more pleasant, I think.

[Freddy Madball]

Thank you, man. Thank you. I had a pleasure with you guys, man.

[Interviewer 2]

Thank you for your time.

[Freddy Madball]

Thanks for having me. I'm sorry about the congestion and everything.

[Interviewer 1]

Don't even. We never notice at all. We're so grateful that you join us. We're so grateful that Mad Ball exists.

[Freddy Madball]

Oh, thank you, man.

[Interviewer 1]

And continues to.

[Freddy Madball]

I'm grateful to you guys for, you know, biggin the culture up, man. Keep. Keep doing what you do, please.

[Interviewer 1]

We will try.

[Freddy Madball]

We need it.

[Interviewer 1]

You know, any parting words you have right there, send. Send them home. Happy.

[Freddy Madball]

Thanks to you guys for having me. Appreciate. Appreciate the invite. Something I've been saying for years, and I'll say to the new generation, I love the new. I love the new music that's coming out. I love all these new bands. I love that they're all doing their own thing and there's so much freedom to do your own thing. But don't forget where this comes from. Don't forget the roots of the music and the bands like Agnostic Front, who literally paved the roads that we all walk on. I've been saying that forever. And it's not.

[Interviewer 1]

You literally have.

[Freddy Madball]

It's not. There's. I mean, it never gets old because we're in a place right now where, like, the general. It's like a huge flip. Like we're in a completely new time right now for hardcore. And I'm grateful that I'm still in the mix and we're still in it and a lot of us are still in it. But don't just jump on the hype. Embrace the culture is what I'm trying to say, really. You know, I don't. You know that. That's. That's. That's the message that I want to put out there to the people perfectly so and show each other respect and be classy and let people have a difference of opinion. It's okay to have a difference of opinion. You don't have to put everybody into a box. You can have a difference of opinion and still have respect for each other.

[Interviewer 1]

There it is.

[Freddy Madball]

Cheers, guys.

[Interviewer 1]

That was five hours with Freddie Madball.

[Freddy Madball]

Wow.

[Interviewer 1]

And unbelievable.

[Freddy Madball]

Unreal.

[Interviewer 1]

Thank you all for joining us. We will see you next week.

[Freddy Madball]

Appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

[Interviewer 1]

This episode is brought to you by Mad Vintage.