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Charles Maggio spent the early part of the 90's scaring children as the
vocalist in Rorschach and starting a small record label called Gern
Blandsten in River Edge, New Jersey. Now earning an impressive reputation
for releasing discography CD's by some of the finest, most influential
U.S. punk/hardcore bands, Charles has also been continually putting out
great records by current American bands including The Van Pelt, Rye
Coalition and Chisel.
*question one*
First of all, which came first, Rorschach or Gern Blandsten?
Charles:
Rorschach started in May of 1989, Gern Blandsten started in early 1992, so
I guess Rorschach was first.
*question two*
You are generally regarded in the hardcore scene as "a nice guy". Is this
normal behaviour for an ex-singer in a brutal grindcore band?
Charles
Brutal grindcore is a misnomer first off, I like to call Rorschach "brutal
hardcore with metallic influences", in which case then yes "a nice guy" is
normal behavior for an ex-singer. "Brutal grindcore" singers are more
prone to the "he's an asshole, but he has a great voice" category, and I
like to stay out of that.
*question three*
How has the label changed from when you were releasing stuff like Merel,
Rorschach, Native Nod, etc?
Charles
Not as much as it may seem. I was releasing records then by existing
bands that had a great deal to do with what I was involved with at the
time. I think all of those bands are great bands, just as I think all of
the current bands that I am putting out are great bands. A lot of the
bands I am releasing now are the same people doing different bands, the
new bands being better than the old bands. I just got lucky enough to
stumble across a determined and talented group of people that wanted me to
do their records.
*question four*
Were you aware of the impact that these bands would have on the current
hardcore scene?
Charles
Back then, not at all. I never thought of it in those terms then. I was
just extremely interested in what those bands were doing then. I think
some of the bands have that should have made more of an impact (Native
Nod, Sticks & Stones, 1.6 Band) never got a fair shake and were never
really able to do any extensive touring because of their age and stuff so
they just sort of fadad away. Then again I have no way to guage "impact"
so I could be wrong about those bands.
*question five*
You have now released four of the greatest discography CDs in the history
of punk/hardcore as well as a Chisel compilation CD. How important do you
feel it is to keep these songs available, usually for the first time on
CD?
Charles
I don't know if everyone would agree, but I thought that those four
discographies and the Chisel CD were important documentation of what went
on in the early 90's in this area. It gives people a point of reference
and a chance to hear good music without having to spend outrageous money
to get the original vinyl copies. I only wish I had the resources to keep
the vinyl in print, but I don't. So I tried to do the next best thing and
cram a bunch of CD's to their time limit with complete histories of the
bands. I also think it is important for younger kids for years to come
that need to have access to this music. Unfortunately, especially
nowadays, kids only hear what is easiest to consume so that is why there
is a giant legion of kids following Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph
exclusively. They are the two easiest labels to buy in the world for the
"punk rock kid", so the "punk rock kid" buys them and never branches out
from there. So the easier I make this music to get the better my chances
of having more people listening to it.
*question six*
As always the bands currently on Gern Blandsten are all very different
from each other. Is it a conscious decision of yours when you put out a
record that you want the label to stay as varied as possible?
Charles
There is no concious effort on my part to try to stay varied in my
releases, it just so happens that the bands that I have encountered in the
last few years are drastically different from one another but they are all
still great at what they do. I have no mindset to keep the label varied,
but when I get tapes and demos from bands that sound like Garden Variety
or Rorschach I kind of think "I already put those bands out", so it's
harder for me to get excited over it.
*question seven*
"Gern Blandsten" - what's that about then?
Charles
Gern Blandsten, for all the Europeans that may have never had the pleasure
of growing up with him, is a bit from a Steve Martin comedy record in
which he says that it is his real name. The album is called "Comedy Isn't
Pretty" and should be owned by everyone.
*question eight*
Your next release is a full length CD/LP by the Yah Mos. Who are they and
where did you find them?
Charles
The Yah Mos LP/CD, if it ever comes out, are a band from the Capitol of
California ... not L.A., not Hollywood, not San Francisco, they are from
Sacramento and I found them reeking havoc across our great nation in the
Summer of 1994, and on two pieces of 7" vinyl (one on Sunny Sindicut, and
one on Moo La La). They will turn heads, I guarantee it!
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