interview with Bones Carter of Drop Off Point
It is an honour to interview one of my good friends, Bones Carter. And although I know most of the answers, it means I know the best ones to ask.
Please introduce yourself. How did you discover Hamilton hardcore? What bands were around at the time?
Hey everyone, I'm Bones Carter, guitarist for Drop Off Point & one of the NZHCPP admins.
I discovered hardcore around late 1995/1996. A guy called Gus Row, and his sons Andre and Bennett Row, helped put on a lot of all ages shows, some under the name Non-Toxic, at places like the Meteor, Frankton Railway Hall, and Stage 7 Knox Street (R.I.P).
Around this time the bands we saw play were:
Life's Blood (who would change their name to Shinkasta)
Nothing at All (one of whom went onto The D4)
Balance (Auckland hardcore legends)
Quickslide (a fast-paced punk/hardcore band from Auckland)
Ghidoragh (a chaotic beautiful mess that was fast as fuck)
Gift (Hamilton legends)
8-Count (some ex-Gift and XControlX members.
Shinkasta was the standout for us as kids though!
What bands have you been a part of? What years were they around? And what keeps you doing bands 27 years later?
Final Stand 1997 where I was on vocals and Garreth (DOP) was on guitar.
Arkane 1998 - 1999 (also with Garreth from DOP) and Mark Seeney (drums) who was in My Two Cents, Evil Priest, and The Red Shift to name a few.
Vendetta 1998 (on guitar for a short stint)
DareDevil 1999 - 2001 (with Mark Newbold and Bennett Row from Shinkasta, Christian Pearce from Ghidoragh, and Mark Seeney as well)
Blackheart Endeavour 2005-2006 (with Simon Bartlett from The Red Shift, Bryce Pritchard, and Shane Cairns)
Regime 2012 (with Ryan Jordan - 21 Guns, Mikey Shields - Cry Wolf, Izzy AD – Antagonist, and Nick Cullen – Roll With The Punches)
What keeps me going after 27 years is I still love going to shows and seeing new and old faces who love Hardcore as much as me. Hardcore is a lifestyle and if you grew up as a Hardcore kid and you don't go to shows anymore, you’re still a Hardcore kid at heart, it never leaves you. These new kids are definitely epic musos and keep me on my toes!
Tell us about the Drop Off Point song Bridge City Crew. How important was Shinkasta & Vendetta back in the late 90s? And for those who want to know, what is the history behind the lyrics, “If you ain't from this city, you don't sing along”?
So, ‘Bridge City Crew’ is a song on the new upcoming Drop Off Point EP, which is one of the first songs I wrote music and lyrics to for DOP. The lyrics are (you have to put your mind back to 1996): "Skating down Knox St we hit Stage 7 this is my life this is my scene. Bennett took the mic and changed my life, FUCK MIND CONTROL till the end of the night".
So, Shinkasta had this song called "From Within" (you can find it on Spotify) and the chorus yells "FUCK MIND CONTROL", and that with the rest of the lyrics to a 14 year old kid was fuckin’ incredible! The heavy guitars and the angst.
“From that point on, I knew what to do, put it down for my city and my crew” (which is more DOP ‘Bridge City Crew’ lyrics)
Then in 1998 Vendetta played at The Meteor opening for Sick of it All and when they played "Hamtown Smakdown", Andre Row said (jokingly) ‘Only Hamtown kids can sing along with this hahahaha’. So, in Bridge City Crew my lyrics are:
“Back in 98 was the Meteor, Vendetta pile ons at Sick Of It All, Hamtown Smakdown was our fuckin song, If you ain't from the city....DON'T SING ALONG!”
It was just paying homage to his joke really, anyone could sing along and sing along to our song, even if it’s repping Hamtown. Also, that's why DOP also plays Hamtown Smakdown in our sets now! When I say "Vendetta pile ons" that's no lie, you can go watch the video clip from 1998 on our NZHCPP YouTube channel! It’s amazing!
In the 90s the older HC generation took us under their wing. How much of an impact did it have on our band and how important is it that the older bands guide the next generation of NZHC bands?
I remember playing our one of our very first shows at The Meteor with Balance and Shinkasta. We were so terrible and made so many mistakes I thought for sure we would never get asked to play another show again. But I was wrong; the older crew like Bennett, Stu, Andre (BigOnge), Newbold, and Hugill were so supportive and with that
we grew and grew and became a pretty dope Straight Edge youth band.
But it was Really Big Onge (Andre Row) who took me under his wing when my brother committed suicide in 1997. He really took the time to get to know me and really looked out for me and taught me some good morals and views. He was a massive positive influence for me. He even would introduce me to people as his little brother.
I ended up living with him for quite a few years in the early 2000s.
Love ya Big Onge!!!!
Tell us a bit about the Hamilton hardcore scene back in the 90s. What international HC bands visited NZ and how much impact did it have on the culture as we know it?
The 90s scene was one of the best times of my life. If you really wanted it you made it happen and paid your dues and got in with the crew. That’s what it’s still like today. It didn’t matter who you were, black/white/boyz/girls/indian/asian it was all love.
It was and still is a diverse and awesome group of people who make it what it is. I've made lifelong friends from those days
Sick Of it All was definitely a massive influence. All those times they played Hamilton and Auckland was amazing.
Vision of Disorder in 1998 - 1 Hamilton show and 2 Auckland Shows. I got to hang out with them (that was my favourite band back then and they were the coolest guys to meet). I was underage but Tim Williams got me into the R18 show!
Madball in 2006 at The Meteor - Madball had a massive effect on me in the early days...so much attitude and realness. Seeing Freddie Madball and Hoya Roc was a dream come true!!!!
Name some Hamilton venues that stood out over the years. What was it that made them stand out so much?
Only 5 main ones stick out to me when it comes to 90s & early 2000s:
The Meteor (Victoria St)
Stage 7 (Knox St)
Youth Zone (Bryce St)
Koromatua Hall (Koromatua Road)
Void (Victoria St not 90s but very important)
Everything back then just seemed simple, bands never got paid (well...I didn't hahaha) we just were pumped to be playing music to an audience. Sometimes in the old hall shows it was like a practice, nothing was mic'd up to a massive P.A, it was just show up plug your shit in and turn it up and go nuts! It was the best!
Music has been a huge part of your life over the years, from filming hip hop videos to producing beats, from being in hardcore bands to recording solo projects. Can you tell us about it all and some of the people you have worked with over the years?
People I've worked with, apart from everyone listed in the Hardcore scene, include Swagga Tv (Comedy Hip Hop). Also with a lot of Hamtown MCs that are friends of mine from crews like: VMT, Villains, Funk Village, Frankton Zoo, BBA Crew.
There is a mixtape on YouTube I made called "8ONES: I’m not New Skool, I Just Arrived Late"! Look it up, its dope!
I made a chill song called "Forever" that really should be released with my good friend Scotty Stone. I made the lyrics and music and paid for Scotty to record it at my bro’s studio, "The Porch" (Regan Mckinnon). Regan also played most of the instruments on the recording and killed it! It’s an amazing song. I didn't play anything on the record, but the song was my vision!
Favourite NZ show you attended or played at? Can you tell us why it stood out from others?
Old skool bands:
Vision of Disorder, Sick of it All, and MADBALL!
Just bands I love and seeing the energy.
Newer shows in the last 10 years:
I got to open for Terror, Blacklisted, and Trapped Under Ice at Void around 2011/2012. That place and those shows were fucking amazing. Dallas From Pressure has heaps of photos and footage from that era.
NZ bands around the Void times were:
The Break in
Antagonist
Ricky Bobby
Moment of truth
Hammertime
All those shows were sick as fuck.
Recent shows for Drop Off Point that stand out:
Definitely playing with Bleeders, Pale Flag & Antagonist AD at Galatos in Auckland.
Bleeders again at Last Place Bar in Hamilton. Those shows were the best I've ever seen Bleeders play. Amazing band and great humble guys.
The last one was DOP & Brawler opening for Comeback Kid at Whammy Bar in Auckland. CBK were fuckin amazing! I also bumped into Serj Tankian from System of a Down, hahaha. It was a good day!
Any memories or stories you would like to share with us?
A lot of my memories other than stated above would be growing up with you Garreth. We have shared a lot and seen good times and bad, highs and lows together; too much to write
but from all these years it’s been an honour to come full circle and make some more memories with DOP and the bros.
What is NZHCPP? Who is a part of it, what is it about, what future goals do you have, and what are some of the lengths we have gone to retain some of these lost memories?
NZHCPP was started buy you (Garreth). I soon joined and we would always have beers and reminisce about the good old days (this was around 2010). We talked about how everything is online now, but nothing from the golden era was.
So that’s when we decided to change that, and from our connections from being in bands we started reaching out and the photos started to flood in. We also hunted for all the old VHS tapes and backed them up as I am a videographer and could edit videos and make them good enough for YouTube.
Now it’s become a brand with merch and tribute merch and the most recent Balance vinyl we got made. This journey has not been an easy one and there is certainly no money to be made, but the goal was to preserve the history, and people that want to know can find it.
We have never stopped loving Hardcore and it definitely shows with how much work you (Garreth) and I put in - you with your endless designs and me with my computer and editing skills. We make a good team.
NZHCPP is a positive platform where there is no shit talking or talking down on anyone. It’s a place to showcase New Zealand's past and present bands - punk/pop-punk/beatdown/hardcore/melodic hardcore/emo – it’s all related!
Favourite era of NZHC/NZ punk and why?
I loved the old skool, but this era we are in right now ... I fuckin love it!
The vibe, the people, the bands, the scene … it’s thriving!
Top 10 bands or albums that influenced you the most over the years?
GEEEEZZZZ this is hard, I have such an eclectic taste in music. I'll give you more than 10, hahaha, and that’s still not enough:
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Jimi Hendrix - Greatest Hits
Madball - Demonstrating My Style
Nirvana - Nevermind
Sick Of It All - Scratch the Surface
Wu Tang - 36 Chambers
GZA - Beneath The Surface
RZA - Bobby Digital
Korn - 1st Album
Outkast - ATLiens
Wisdom in Chains - Everything you know
Portishead - Portishead
Vision Of Disorder – S/T (Green) album
Disembodied - If God Only Knew The Rest Were Dead
Inside Out - No Spiritual Surrender
Yelawolf - Trunk Musik 0-60
Strife - In This Defiance
Jedi Mind Tricks - Servants in Heaven, Kings In Hell
R.A. The Rugged Man - All My Heroes Are Dead
Name some of the youth bands Drop Off Point has played with. Is there any that stand out from other bands, and can you drop some links below so we can check out their music?
These bands need no introduction but ...
Stacked - Probably my favourite AK band TBH! https://linktr.ee/stacked_band
Amanaki (force to be reckoned with!) https://amanaki.bandcamp.com/
bloodstainedeyes (their drummer stole the show at Smakdown!) Spotify
Cease & Desist
Thanks to everybody who paved the way and to all the kids who make it what it is today that remind me why I still do it! You know who you are! Without you all there would be no DOP or scene. Support your local Hardcore scene.
BCHC
Thanks,
Bones