Sunday, June 6, 2010

Interview With Scott (Youngland, Aggressive Force, etc)

Posted below is an interview with Scott who plays drums for several OC, California bands.


You are playing for many different bands, could you just tell us which bands, and how you got involved in so many projects?

I play/played for quite a few bands in the White Power Movement. Aggressive Force was my first band. My friend Ken Johnson and I started that in Visalia, CA back in 1983 or 1984. I went through MANY line-up changes and times when the band didn't exist before Brian Sawyer (RIP) and I got it rolling again back in '97 or so. We released a self titled album on Panzerfaust somewhere between '98 and 2000. It's being bootlegged as we speak in various locations around the world as I type this. It features Brian on vocals (we miss you brother), Kenn on Bass (also the singer/guitarist for Youngland), Roy on Lead Guitar (Vocalist and Lead guitar for Final War and MANY other projects, he is really an amazing guitar player and song writer), and me (Scott) on drums. Next was Extreme Hatred which started in March of 1991, that was another band that had many line-up changes, but Martin Cox (vocals and songwriter) and I were always the constant members of the band. I've also play/played in Youngland, HateCrime ("Guilty", this is a KICK ASS cd if you can find it, pick it up, it is well worth your time and money. I'm pretty proud of how this CD came out), Youngblood, and various punk rock bands in Orange County.

Could you just tell us a bit about the history of Youngland and the origin of the name?

As I mentioned previously, we (Kenn and I), started Youngland back in 1998 after his extremely popular punk rock band "Knockout" (they had a video on MTV) broke up. Kenn had always been a supporter of the White Power Movement during his time with punk bands in O.C. (Knockout played a few Skrewdriver cover songs during live performances), and had promised me that if and when Knockout broke up, he and I would start a racialist band. When Knockout, met it's unfortunate demise, Kenn and I started Youngland. After writing 5 or 6 songs, we asked Martin (of Extreme Hatred) to come and play bass for us. And we released our first CD, "We Are United..." on Panzerfaust Records. To date, we've released 3 CD's, "We Are United", "Winter Wind", and "Smothered and Covered". Kenn came up with the name Youngland to represent America as being a young land compared to our ancestral Europe.

What would you qualify you music of (style)? And from what band did you get inspiration?

This has always been a matter of discussion of ours as well as CD reviewers. We've had everyone describe us as everything from Punk to Rock to Rock-a-Billy to Oi! to Country. I guess pick up our CD's and make your own assessment. In MY opinion we have more of a punk rock/rock n' roll sound than anything else. Even "Smothered and Covered", where we covered a bunch of old country songs, is done in a punk rock/country way.

It is the third time that we interview an O.C. and we keep on being amazed by the number of bands in such a small place, how do you explain such a phenomenon? Also, most of O.C. bands have developed a style distinct of the other bands, being more punk-rock than other WP bands, why is that?

Orange County has a few million people in it, so it's not all that of a small place. But it's deeply rooted in punk rock, and someplace that A LOT of mainstream punk rock bands have their beginnings. We all grew up listening to that style of music and you tend to play what you know. So I guess I can contribute Orange County bands to having a punk sound to us just playing the style of music we grew up on. There quite a few WP bands from Orange County and if you look at the members on the CD booklets, we have a lot of the same members. We are all friends and tend to mix and match band members. There may be 20 WP bands from Orange County, but they are the same 10 or 15 band members. I think it is a credit to the musicianship of the band members to have so many different bands, and still produce a VERY unique sound with each project they play in.




Some of Youngland’s songs, and actually the CD, talk about unity. Do you feel that unity present in the movement?

Unfortunately it all depends on what day and time you ask that question. At times the movement and our Race seem very unified and at other times it seems very divided. And some scenes and areas of the country and world seem unified while others seem to have nothing but division and infighting. We wrote many songs about unity to, at the very least, get people to stop and think and to try to make an effort to come together with other organizations and to join forces. We are all fighting and striving for the same goal. It makes more sense to us for us to fight as one to achieve our goal. There is strength in numbers. United We Stand, Divided We Fall.

American Justice is a critic of the U.S. judicial system, what’s your opinion on that?

American Justice was written at a time when a lot of our friends were being arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to long prison terms for ridiculous charges. A simple bar brawl was putting our friends away for 25 or more years. It didn't matter to the state who started the fight, only that "another terrible skinhead" was getting put jail and not able to harm society any further. Lots of hypocrisy and double standards in the American Judicial System.

Do you support any specific organization?

None of us in the band belong to any specific organizations. I, personally, don't want to be restricted by belonging to any one group and have to follow their specific doctrine. I'll pick and choose who I support and associate with. I'll gravitate my support towards the organizations that I think have the best and most direct means to our end. I don't think anyone should limit themselves to who they affiliate with, as long as those associations are the best fit for that specific individual and the group is actively moving towards our common goal.

In O.C., do you feel the consequences of the Mexican invasion?

Ha! Yes, it's the Mexicans are a daily and constant reminder of where we live and what destruction they are doing to our country. They are not only devastating our economy, but also our communities. What once were nice neighborhoods to live in, nice schools to send our children to, are all gone. The lyrics to our song, "White Man on the Move" pretty much sums up our thoughts on the influx of illegal immigrants to our country. But look out Canada, Mexicans are like cockroaches, like a spreading virus, they will be in your neighborhoods, soon, unless you do something to stop them. Imagine in you mind, just how bad Mexicans can ruin your neighborhood, city, and country, then multiply that by 100. They are a scourge. They will destroy everything you hold dear and then attempt to make you feel bad for not assimilating to their culture. You may think I'm exaggerating but just wait and see........

Your country has elected a Black president, what are your comments on that?

Ah, what can I say about that? I can't say what I truly think and feel, for fear the government will come and get me. Sure we have freedom or speech and press.....to an extent. I will suffice it to say that it's an unfortunate situation that I am interested in seeing how it's played out.

Anything else to add?

Nothing else to add. Thank you for the interview. Youngland has a bunch of songs in the works and should hopefully have a new CD out by the end of 2009. If you liked "We are United" you'll love the new stuff.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Scott, long time no see. as I have gotten older, I no longer subscribe to the politics and wot not, but always wondered how you & others such as Martin, and schlomo are getting on. Nice to know you are still alive and well, and not in jail or anything like that.

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