YUPPICIDE: Be A Man And Slam (Again)

By Jim Testa

Yuppicide might not have been the most famous band to come out of the NY/HC scene of the Eighties, but they were one of the few that successfully made the transition from the musclehead moshpits at CBGB’s to the goofy, non-violent ABC No Rio matinees of the early Nineties. They were loud, fast, angry, melodic, but also theatrical (makeup, costumes… blood!) and quite often, hysterically funny. They could embody the rage and brutality of NY/HC but also poke fun at it, as they did with their shirtless anthem “Be A Man (And Slam.) Towering frontman Jesse Jones, guitarist Steve Karp, and bassist Joe Keefe recently reunited to help promote a massive two-disk anthology of Yuppicide’s career on Dead City Records and to play the Black ‘N’ Blue Bowl at Webster Hall (formerly known as The Ritz, one of NYC’s premier hardcore venues in the 80’s). The band also got to play several shows in Germany, and they will be appearing at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park on Sunday, December 26 as part of the Bouncing Souls’ “Home For The Holiday” shows. Tickets are still available. We spoke with guitarist Steve Karp to rehash some Yuppicide memories and see what he thinks of hardcore today… and where Yuppicide might fit into tomorrow’s punk scene.


Yuppicide at ABC No Rio, 1990: Photo by James Damion

Q: Can you give us a very brief history of the band,and some of the highlights of your career.

The band really got going in 1988, when Jesse came on board as the singer and we really began to focus on original material and recording a demo tape. Prior to that, we were more of a college party band, doing covers and stuff, and that was fun because it gave us a chance to learn to work together as a band under relatively low pressure. But once Jesse came on board, we dropped the covers and started learning new original songs, and learned how to play those songs in a more focused, cohesive band setting. I think Jesse maybe had 2 weeks to learn the lyrics before we went to Coyote Studios in Brooklyn - he still had a notebook with the lyrics he was referring to while he was recording the vocals! After that, things began to pick up: we gigged everywhere and then did the first 7-inch with Sam Evac, and that eventually led to Wreck*Age Records getting involved which got us to Europe just as our first LP Fear Love was coming out. Playing CBGB's each time was always great, because of the reverence everyone had for that place, but a huge milestone in the band's career, and I think in our own lives, was going to Europe to play. That really changed the band and changed us as people, in many way. Personally, for me, when DI opened for us at Wetlands- that was crazy! I mean DI was this band I worshipped and idolized since high school, and not only were we going to share the same stage, but they were opening! for us!

Q: Why did Yuppicide stop playing, and who inspired you to reform? Was the Dead City anthology the reason, or did the anthology happen because you wanted to become an active band again?

There had been several 'last shows' and several 'furloughs' and 'hiatuses' just due to stuff going on in our lives, and we had all agreed, that there was no way we'd do the band if the core members (Joe, Jesse, Steve) all could not do it. In 1998, I think we all realized it was time to let it go. We were really at a crossroads where we were either going to let it go and get on with our lives, or we were going to do the band as a full-time job. So, we recorded that 1998 demo not only to be able to add a track to the Punk Rock Jukebox, but also to document where we were at as a band, and to get that music out there and see if any labels were interested in taking us on. Thankfully, that was at a time when labels weren't really bringing anyone new on board, so we all agreed to just walk away from it while we were on a high note. I think at that point we all agreed the band had run its course, and we had had a great run, and wanted to leave feeling good about still being friends after 10 years+, and while we had great music and a great legacy we were proud of.

Getting back together and releasing the anthology was an odd chain of events. I think it really got started maybe the winter of 2010, when that black vinyl bootleg came out with the '88 and '98 demos on it. That really opened up a whole can of worms for us, and we began to look at the fact that the material was long out-of-print, and what little original material out there was trading at some prices bordering on obnoxious. We in the band also kind of wanted to have a package that contained all the studio material in one place, with lyrics and photos and art sort of in a sequential order so people (and us!) could see how the band evolved and just what the hell we did with 10 years of our lives!

So, we started to talk amongst ourselves and initially we were thinking of putting the CD package out with a friend of ours in Germany, Daniel Bader, in Berlin, who had a small label and distro. That of course led to us having to play again, both at home and in Europe. So we talked about not only tracking down all the recorded material and photos, flyers, drawings and so on, but the need to rehearse and re-learn the material...all at a somewhat leisurely pace. Well, along comes Cuz Joe and the Black ‘N’ Blue Bowl, and he wants us to play at Webster Hall, in May. This greatly accelerated our plans, so we got to rehearsing right away, bringing Gringo Star (Jay Rogan) in on drums. John Franko from DeadCity also approached us around this time with a great offer: He'd put out the anthology CD and Bader would do the vinyl re-releases.

Not long after that, we got asked to come play the With Full Force Festival...so these things kept happening to keep us busy. We were cranking out art for not only the anthology itself, but for new shirts and stickers; and the whole concept behind the vinyl re-releases was that all the art would be brand new, and each of us (Joe, Jesse, Steve) would each do the cover art of one of the LP's. So, we each did one of those and I think Jesse found himself in a position where Yuppicide almost became a full-time job (minus the pay!) What with all the work on the anthology package, as well as processing and preparing the art of the LP's, shirts, and so on. So, the short answer to the second part of your question was, it was a little of each: All the playing we did was in support of the anthology, but we all missed each other and missed playing, so the two fed off each other. On one hand, it was good to play to get the word out that we had this anthology to promote, but I hope us playing got people who didn't know us to check our back catalog out and want to see us again maybe.

Q: My favorite Yuppicide memories all happened at ABC No Rio. Amazingly the place is still there, still doing shows, and is actually about to tear the old building down and replace it with a state of the art facility. Can you talk a little about what ABC No Rio meant to Yuppicide, and what your experiences have been there recently (if any)?

No new experiences with ABC, I'm somewhat removed from 'the scene', especially in the 5 boroughs. But, 'back in the day', ABC was great. Whether we played upstairs or downstairs, it was a great time. We really did a lot of our very earliest gigs there. This was at a time when there was a million places to see punk/hc gigs, especially in Manhattan. ABC was a place to see bands, and hand out flyers for upcoming shows, and catch up with people and find out about upcoming shows, buy records- all that good 'scene communal stuff'. ABC came with a separate set of people from who you'd see at the more established NY shows like CB's or the Ritz... but there was plenty of crossover as well. If people liked a band, they see you wherever, or they might wait to see us at ABC as opposed to CB's, because CB's had these spasms of really violent acts and violent shows, and ABC was a conscious and conscientious alternative to that. I saw a lot of smaller bands or more political bands at ABC, and it was a smaller venue, so you could get right up and check out the band, really watch them play, check out their gear and stuff like that. We were lucky in that we got along with the ABC crowd as well as we got along with the CB's crowd. We were lucky that people dug us from a wide variety of the various factions of 'the scene' at that time.

Q: Yuppicide could be incredibly fast and brutal; political without being preachy; and often, very funny. It really seems as if the hardcore bands of today have only learned the first part; they're still fast and angry, but I don't hear a lot of political discourse in HC/punk music anymore, and heavy bands with a sense of humor seem very rare. What's your perception of the current state of underground hardcore? Are those old songs still reaching today's audiences?

I'm blissfully out of touch with 99% of today's underground stuff... but what I have heard I think musically is good and there are some strong, intense lyrics...but at this point, in 2010, I have to wonder if it's really run its course, this whole idea of 'hardcore.' I'm not saying that to diss any of the new bands or any of the kids or folks involved, but philosophically in terms of having the same radical counterculture smack in the face as the bands of the early 80's and late 70's, I don't know....I mean, even when Yuppicide got its start, hardcore was already 10 years old! I see so much of punk and hardcore already assimilated into the mainstream: The music, the fashions and so on. And I see kids of today getting into a lot of the classic bands like Minor Threat or Black Flag. I mean, that stuff still stands up because of how abrasive it is in terms of having zero commerciality. I guess the music and 'scene' evolved into whatever it is now, but a fossil like me can't really relate, and that's how it should be: Things have to evolve to survive and move onward and upward, I suppose. It does seem that humor has gone out of vogue and that hardcore seems to not stand as far outside of society as it once did. It's just another youth demographic at this point. When we play now, it seems to be predominantly people who have known us since the beginning, especially in Europe. I don't see the 15-year old kids in our audience. I think our music and lyrics still resonate with people, and not just from a nostalgia standpoint - but it's still the older crowd. I don't see why a 15-year old kid should give a shit about a 20-year old band with 40-year old dudes in it; lord knows when I was 15 that was the exact opposite of what I was looking for in music!

Q: Hardcore kids today still like to mosh, but clearly they can't even conceive of the level of violence that our generation lived through at CBGB HC matinees and other venues in the Eighties and Nineties. My favorite Yuppicide song was always "Be A Man And Slam." Do kids today get the satire anymore?

The whole 'mosh' thing and stuff is somewhat weird, because when stagediving became 'crowdsurfing', and people were 'moshing' at like Billy Joel concerts, I knew it was dead. Deader than dead. I mean when this stuff that we held so dear went mainstream, a big piece of it and us died, maybe. Hells yeah, shows were nuts, and I saw people leaving CB's with bones sticking out of their skin, leaving on stretchers, and ambulances in front of gigs, and things like that. And I know the generation before, from the early 80's, had seen some insane stuff too. But when the 'scene' started to turn on itself, it started to suck - it was an indication that it was too big. When people at shows started to prey on one another, it crossed a line that really indicated that it was getting bigger than its britches.

“Be A Man (And Slam)” really came out of that era when people were starting to go out of their way to clobber people at gigs and to intentionally inflict harm, either because of or in spite of aggressive, intense music. Bands were calling it quits because they said they didn't want to be the soundtrack to needless ratpacking and stuff like that. What's ironic about that song is the breakdown part is pretty beefy, and more than one person has said that that breakdown part makes them want to smash people in the face! So we weren't trying to get people to not dance aggro or anything like that, but to sort of delineate the point where it goes from just random knocking around in a pit at a gig to making it a point to come to a gig solely to batter other people, especially those smaller than you, or who made the mistake of coming to the gig alone.

I don't even know if kids today listen to that song, or if they'd get where we're coming from. I mean, I went to see a friend's band last year at this tiny little hall, and it was like it was still 1986, for real. It looked just like 1986, all the bands had this first gen 'youth crew' sound, and all the kids were doing the grasspicker and pizzmaker during the bust parts. Kids even looked 1986: it was weird. maybe they were just paying homage to what they consider to be a classic era of this music - I don't know. Anyway, I have no idea what's in the head of a kid who would be at gigs today... The world has changed so much with the Internet, and texting and cellphones and im'ing...i mean a gig could happen and an hour later it's posted so people can see pictures and video!

Q: Let's talk a little about Home For The Holidays. Tell me the first thing that comes into your mind when I say:

- Bouncing Souls

Ruling dudes- so happy for their successes. They've worked so hard to be where they are now, and I'm amped for them. They are the epitome of dedication and devotion

- Adrenalin OD

What more can you say? Classic NJ punk rock- great sense of humor

- H20

These dudes ruled the B’N’B Bowl. It was so tough to go onstage after them because they OWNED the Ritz that night. And rightfuly so - they've put in so much work and paid countless dues.

- Strike Anywhere

A newer band that I'm not familiar with. Then again, I'm sure they never heard of Yuppicide, either!

Yuppiecide at CBGB, 1989 or so...

Q: Hardcore today seems to exist on two planes: The kids who are trying to establish themselves and get their ideas out there; and the old guys who are still "doing it for the kids" (or the bucks.) From Youth Brigade to Sick Of It All to Agnostic Front to Bad Religion to the Circle Jerks, there are a lot of guys in their 40's and 50's still playing hardcore. That was pretty unthinkable even in the early Nineties in your heyday. How do you feel about it?

Like I was alluding to earlier, I think having punk/hc being something really outside of the mainstream is sort of over...it's not as accepted as say The Eagles or Counting Crows or something, but it's not the huge moral threat/moral outrage that it once was. I don't know that this music is paving any new ground anymore on one level, but it is getting people aware of issues like human rights, animal rights, environmental issues... and younger people are easier to radicalize and have a lot of energy to 'get involved' and go out and change the world. And it's always good to give people an alternative to the mainstream stuff which is still the suckiest garbage going. But 'doing it for the kids?' I think it's more of a case that playing music is fun, who would want to give it up if the opportunity presented itself to do it? When we were playing, 'older' bands would come around, like the Ramones and the Dickies were playing, and they were from the very first wave, and some people would see them, and other people would be saying 'Fuck those old farts; this is how we do it now!'

But, for some folks, playing music is what they're good at - it's all they know, all they have, so naturally they're gonna continue doing it. I don't blame them - it's a job that has some aspects you love (the playing) and some you hate (pretty much everything else that isn't playing!) If I was 15 now, I'm not sure I'd go see Yuppicide; I'd want to see the bands that were at my level, that spoke directly to me. These older bands that are playing - God bless 'em - it's a tough life to do what they do. They're reaching the older fans and they're reaching new fans too, so that's always a good thing. This music and 'lifestyle' is well over 30 years old now, so people are always gonna pine for "the good ol' days" and they're gonna wanna see bands from when they were kids because they hate getting old, and the bands are gonna wanna continue to play because they hate getting old too. Look at Keith Morris's new band Off... My god, they RIP. Seriously, they are great. Not doing anything new to the ears of anyone raised on 'Group Sex' and 'Damaged' and 'Nervous Breakdown;' but to someone who has never heard hardcore circa 1979-80, they're gonna get their minds blown. I'm amped for Keith and his band, they're great and they have a great buzz going for them.
There was a time when I'd badmouth any 'old fart' still playing, but now that I'm one of those old farts, I say good on 'em.

Let's be honest - despite what punk tried to do, and what hardcore tried to do, music as a corporate industry persists. It even managed to somewhat assimilate some of the bands who stood in defiance of it initially, and now those bands are operating in some extension of the corporate music industry. What's cool though is that some of the people from hardcore and punk moved into 'the industry', and while some 'sold out', others really tried to bring the counterculture ethics into the labels, booking agencies, clubs, and so on. People built on the old networks from the 80's and 90's and I think bands have it SO much easier now than any of those first generation bands could have ever dreamed of.

I don't think those older guys who are still playing are getting rich - they're making just enough, if that, to get by. But they're lucky in that they get to do something I hope they still love doing. What I do have a hard time wrapping my brain around is something like Warped Tour or things like that... where it's just a travelling corporate circus that markets all the stuff that used to get people in lots of trouble with parents, cops, authorities: Skateboarding and punk rock and hardcore music is just so safe and tame and I don't know... pre-packaged now in a venue like that. I mean, I know it's the old curmudgeon in me, but there was something rad when it was secret and dangerous. But as long as the bands are getting taken care of and have the chance to play and keep playing, good on 'em! If somebody made me an offer to keep playing loud music and they wouldn't try and tell me how to do it, I'd be hella tempted.

Q: With the demise of CBGB, Wetlands, Coney Island High, Continental, and so many other venues, there are plenty of hipster and indie-rock clubs in NY and Brooklyn but not very many places that will host hardcore. What's your experience been with the NYC of 2010? If you were 17 today, where would you be hanging with your friends?

Yuppicide played a few local shows recently, the first being the B’N’B gig... and that was a REAL eye-opener for us. We went into that knowing it really wasn't our venue or crowd, but we were amped nonetheless at the people who did remember us and know our stuff, and even spent $25 just to see us. Honestly, we were out of our league in some senses, but it was still crazy to be on the stage of a club we had all seen shows at in our youth. We also played Santos in Manhattan, and that was closer to Yuppicide shows of old - smaller venue and more of 'our' crowd. I think we're playing to people who remember us from the 90's; we're not playing to 'the new breed'. We were never as well known as some of the other bands out there, so I wouldn't expect most new kids to know us or care about us. And the older folks have a lot going on in their lives, so for them to get a baby-sitter and leave work early and make all these arrangements just to come see us - we can't expect or demand the same audience we had in 1995. We also played this little divey bar in College Point, Queens - and that was a blast. We just showed up- no gear, and played a quick 30 minute set right on the floor with borrowed gear, no stage. Then we just left. That was fun to do - that brought us right back to the very beginning of Yuppicide, very 'punk rock.' And we played this spot in Brooklyn, right around the corner from ReadySet, Joe's shop. It was after the punkrock picnic and that show was nusters...again, we played right on the floor, and people were barreling right into us and our gear and we just kept playing. Again - just like the first shows we played.
So, it's been a mixed reception back home; but no sweat. We enjoy playing together, so that makes it fun.

Man, if I was 17 today? I don't know what I'd be up to. Do kids of that age even hang out in the same way anymore? What with all the new electronic technology and stuff?

Anyway, I really gotta wonder if I'd be into hardcore and punk. I mean, if i was 17, punk and hardcore would technically be my parents' music, right? Like when I was little, I listened to my mom's Cream and Hendrix LP's, until I realized it was a teenager's job to break away from my parents!