What does this reunion mean to you?

This reunion gig means a lot on many different levels -- it's a reconnection with old friends, ones who I spent so much time with and sort of lost touch with. On a bigger level, the shows will bring hundreds of people together who at one point were all interested in the punk life, and I'm sure many of them haven't seen each other for years. There's an energy-generation level, too. As we practice for this thing, our energy levels rise, and I've learned that more things you do, the more you can do. Sounds stupid, but it's true. There's a connection with all of the new punk kids, and seeing a new generation (actually, it's about 4 or 5 generations by now) is really one of the most exciting things about this.

On the KCPR interview, you said that Half Life started because there were so many horrible bands, which seems strange to hear considering all the great Dischord bands, plus Naked Raygun, Government Issue, etc, who were around back then. What did you mean by that and do you still feel that there are a lot of horrible bands?

Discharge, Naked Raygun and GI were 3 of the best bands ever. I met Discharge briefly (long enough to give them an Under the Knife single!), we played with Raygun, and GI were friends of ours. We gigged together quite a bit, and they were part of the upper-strata, so to speak, of punk. There were actually several dozen very good punk bands in those days, but for every good one, there were scores of bands that were just crap. And not bands who came up from the bottom, like we saw with Corrosion of Conformity, but bands who, under the guise of punk, played music that was unbearable, and just never caught on to what punk was about. In the KCPR interview, I believe I was really down on punk-joke bands. Those bands who existed within the punk scene solely to make fun of punk. There might have been a place for that, but I felt that in the 80's, given the fact that every single person in America would gladly drop what he was doing to make fun of a punk, it would be a good idea to have cohesiveness in the scene. I still think that today. I also feel that where there used to be scores of awful bands, there are now hundreds. And this garbage that people put up with on these so-called "edge stations" and video channels is completely main stream.

What are your thoughts on the different sounds of Half Life with the few lineup changes the band had and what did you bring to the band when you were writing compared to the other stuff? Your influences at the time.

As you know, there are several different Half Life sounds... the first-version noise quartet (which I loved), the almost-oi sound, and the metal-punk. Each one of those had a different kind of energy going on. I brought what came to be known as the metal-edge-crossover sound to the band, although I was not necessarily trying to be anything in particular. It was a sound that I think is unique in that it comprised elements of every phase of my life at the time... every band, every poem, every book. I wrote both words and music, and I spent a lot of time (as I still do) thinking of musical phrases. I would sit and strum at a riff for hours waiting for the right change to come along, and when I got it, the whole song would kind of unfold. Getting the lyrics was the same... waiting until the right phrase came along and then the rest of the words would flood. I'd write a few songs in a row, and then sort of dry up for a bit. It was all very erratic. But when the songs came out, they were pretty decent. I had tons of favorite bands... Siouxsie, Sisters of Mercy, Discharge, The Effigies. I've been a die-hard Black Sabbath fan, especially the Volume 4 LP. Possibly my biggest punk influence was The Faith from DC. Their music really had the perfect blend of power, feeling and composition.

From what I already know, it sounds like emotion was a lot of your motivation for writing, and some of your favorite bands were some of the DC bands like Ignition (one of my faves to this day!). What do you think of the fact that the "emo label" is out there in the malls and on MTV today?

People will tend to pick up on whatever kind of label sounds catchy, and use that label however they want. "Emo" fits that. It's a thing you can say and sound hip. It's a nice kind of music to listen to if you like hard-edged music that isn't really over into the mohawk-boots punk area, and is a cut above your average bar cover band. But remember, emo used to refer to a specific kind of PUNK band. It was mainly a tag used by other punks to denote the fact that you weren't going to hear songs about Reagan's colon, or how we should stop nuclear war. At some point, emo-band people started wearing shorts and sneakers (which was something you just didn't do as a punk), and then became whatever it is now. The songs I wrote in Half Life were absolutely emotion-driven, delivered with a decidedly punk sound, and I think people appreciated the freshness of it.

How was the scene/kids/music different back then compared to today?

It's so much different, it's hard to believe. In the early 80's, there were about 15 punks in the city. That number jumped to about 100 in the golden days of Half Life, but life was still tough. Colored hair just wasn't accepted at all. There was no such thing as a guy with an earring (let alone 2!), tattoos were for bikers and piercings were what S&M; people got. And if you were a punk, there was no job you could get. It was as much as saying, "I don't want anything you people have." Leaving your house, you really took your life into your hands. People spit at us. Threw beer cans at us. Strangers stopped on the sidewalk and force-laughed out loud at us. And we were expected to take it, because if we laughed back (which we did), they always came after us. The funny thing is, society has a way of COMPLETELY forgetting how it identifies and treats those who deviate from the norm, and here we are only a few short years later, when anybody can dye their hair pink and get on TV. Want 73 piercings in your nose? No problem. In a way, I'm happy that people have the freedom to decorate themselves however they wish. It's great to have been one of the people who were at the forefront. The punk scene, being much bigger today, is fantastic. It's what we dreamed of. I think it's easier to get a CD out now, as compared to saving, begging and scraping to get that piece of vinyl out in the 80's. I'm happy that many of the Pittsburgh punk bands have some kind of recording out there. That's something that they'll appreciate in the future more than they can imagine.

What do you think punk kids today miss out on compared to the early days (in regard to the scene/the punk movement?

I kind of get at that in the last question, but there really isn't much they're missing. If you consider not having a car full of people screeching to a halt so they can jump out and laugh at you to be missing something, be happy for that! There might be some of that formative-energy gone, that stuff that formed the kernel of the Pittsburgh scene, but if anybody starts a real punk band, they'll understand that energy.

What were your most memorable shows/favorite bands to play with?

There are a few of them...as for bands, Articles of Faith, Samhain. One of my favorite shows was with GBH...had about 45 people at it. We played Wild Thing and dedicated it to them, they saluted us from the pool table. I remember a show we did in L.A., I think it was in Compton at a rec center. The security guys had headsets and baseball bats. The landscape was very urban-nothing but concrete and metal. There was no trouble at all, though. The last gig on the '87 tour was in San Diego with Dr. Know and The Exploited. The place was completely packed and we covered DOA by Van Halen. The people went nuts.

How did being in Half Life shape you into who you are today?

I didn't realize that it shaped me into anything until recently. I've gone through some sort of esoteric-inner dynamic things over the years, and the best way I can describe it is like this: You have a river of water flowing along, and then an earthquake buries that river. Years later, another earthquake brings that river to the surface, this time it flows even harder. The water was always there, there was something else on the surface for awhile. I've come to the point where the water is flowing again...

What are your thoughts on the Electric Banana?

Well, it was a pivotal place for punk, and we could pretty much always get a gig. We got to play with a ton of now legendary bands there, and many of the shows were attended by fewer than 100 people. There were some rough spots, as there always are between bands and club management, but in general, I think we were the ones to come out ahead with the hundreds of fans we apparently still have, the many bands we got to meet, and the reputation we have as a result of playing some damn good gigs.

What do you think of the bands/scene in Pittsburgh today?

We have a great punk scene. The bands I've seen are all doing pretty well-there seems to be some touring action on the part of most of them, and quite a few of them manage to get records and CDs out. That's great, because as I remember, we wanted to put out a record so badly, but there was no way in hell we could do it. I think the city could use 1 or 2 more medium-sized clubs, but generally, the climate for punk bands is much nicer now. The last show I went to (Corpus Christie/ Caustic Christ) was so big, there was actually a subsidiary-pit formed. Never in my hardcore travels did I ever before see a dual-pit show.

What are you listening to today?

I listen to different kinds of music, but I tend not to like everything within a given genre. I think Mike is doing a fantastic job with Gearhead--his selection is impeccable and he's managed to create a very cohesive label. I also like some of the electronica movement--especially drum and bass. It's got that hard-edge to it, and it sounds really good when it's loud. But like all genres, some of it is just, well, bad. So for me, it's a matter of intensity and originality that has to be there.

Do you still feel that music cannot change the world?(referring to the KCPR interview) I think music is a reflection of the minds of the various generations of people. When a new generation is coming up, their music is going to be different. The many different shades of electronica is a perfect example. And look at all the various spins on punk there were. So I don't think a person will write a "magical song" and change anything. By the time you hear the music, the change has already happened.

What was the best song Half Life ever wrote?

I don't really have a particular favorite. I like to play Grind, I like the heart-tearing quality of All Our Yesterdays, and I think Errand of Mercy/By Any Other Name may be the closest I've come to a masterpiece.

You guys never toured Europe did you? I didn't think, but wanted to know for sure.

Nope.

If Half Life was still together today, what to you think you would sound like and do you think you'd be packing in clubs all over the country like, say Anti-Flag does?

If we would have stayed together, I like to think that things would have degenerated into arguing and hatred, and it would have all ended badly, so it's a good thing that it finished like it did. I suppose that if we'd stuck it out, we would have played some huge shows, but I'm not at all sure that it would have been a rock and roll fantasy. I regret, at times, having not stuck it out longer, but in a way I'm glad we were able to make our mark and have the reputation we have.v

Do you think Half Life's music is still relevant today?

Half Life's music is absolutely, positively the most relevant thing there is today. And it always will be. Although much of what we did was unplanned and from-the-hip, it was our intention to produce music that would never become outdated, music that would always withstand the test of time in it's content and musical staying-power.

Are you involved in any musical projects/bands currently or since Half Life, aside from this reunion? About 2 years ago (pretty much concurrent with the formulation of what would become the Half Life reunion and reissue) I started messing around with computer recording and sequencing. I've got a solo project called Rocket Sled (which I'm being careful not to mention here, since I want to focus on Half Life), which is a synthesis of guitar and electronics. I hope to get to some live gigs at some point, and release some material on CD. I've discovered that it's possible to write and work with different kinds of music simultaneously. You can't do anything else (like eat), but it can be done.

What are the possibilities of recording/writing together again?

We've discussed this briefly, and the outlook is good. I can't put a time frame on it, but there's a decent chance you'll hear something new from Half Life at some point.

What advice do you have for other young punk bands?

Keep playing. No matter how bad you think you might be, no matter how hard it is to live and be in a band, keep going until something happens. And when things get stale, don't be afraid to do something different with your life. When you've got some new experiences, go back to your music with a vengeance.

Do you have any idea what Damon is doing? Is he still in Don Cab?

I know exactly what Damon is doing. He's practicing for the Half Life reunion.