Interview with Joe Steiner from Brawler
Please introduce yourself and tell us what bands you have been a part of?
I started playing in a band from 13 years old so I'll just mention a few. Slanderous, Ivengeance, The Rising Tide, Mourning The Masses/Suckaz, Obligatory Fiend and Brawler.
Tell us a bit about your introduction to hardcore and can you name the bands you were listening to back then, would you say your taste in music has changed over the years?
My uncles Blair and Garreth were always listening to Hc so it’s fair to say I was around punk and hardcore all my life. Although I was around the music since a child it wasn’t until I was 14 driving around Papamoa with my uncle Blair blasting Blood for blood, One life crew, Skarhead, North side kings, hoods, etc that I really began to take it all in.
Around the same time my uncle Garreth got me into Biohazard, Youth of today, Merauder, Sick of it all, Madball, Vision of disorder, Knuckle Dust, Spider Crew, Integrity and more. Garreth also took me to see Terror that same year and I had my first real experience of what hc was about. It got me hooked. He then gave my brother and I a bunch of NZHC CDs and later down the track when I was 18 I began to put on shows with mixed metal and Hc bands. Over the years I'd say my love for hardcore grew because it's such a family orientated genre to me, and even though I did the death metal stuff, playing in a hardcore band was always something I've wanted to do and it's great to finally be doing it along with the family and people who got me into the genre.
Tell us about some of the shows you have put on & some of the bands who played, describe and name some of the venues and would you encourage more people to put on shows?
Um, notably Advocates, Dead Dreamers, Depths, Ocean Grove and Gideon were some of the bigger ones. I also worked with a lot of local bands like Moment Of Truth,Seas of Conflict, Precursor, Thy Assassin, Lead Us Forth and many others. Brawler just recently set up a very successful Hamilton Hardcore show with Brainwave headlining and it had solid numbers. So, we are very excited to do more in Hamilton and for our scene with our homies Drop Off Point and Pressure.
I would encourage anyone to get involved at any age. If I see it, I'll support it. Learn from your mistakes and keep grinding.
Can you tell us about some band features you have been a part of and how that came about?
Features not very many, I filled in for Rise from The Shadows on their final tour with Depths and that was sick. I featured in a VISH PNHC song titled Spite and that took place just hanging out in the bro James Powers bedroom haha.
Describe Brawler’s influences and tell us a bit about the band, future goals and will we see any international tours?
There are a lot of different influences, I'd say Old No Zodiac, Warhound, Six Ft Ditch, Xibalba, Billy Club Sandwich and Bulldoze to name a few. In the short term it’s getting our EP Hard Truths out to the world, Shoot a music video (Currently in planning), Put on great shows for Hamilton and get over to Aussie to begin with but Europe would be wild someday.
Favourite NZ metal or hardcore show you attended or played at. Can you tell us why it stood out from others?
For metal shows, It'd be some of the Kings Arms shows I played with The Rising Tide. The Rise from The Shadows final shows were great too. For Hardcore shows, “The Take Over” at Last Place in
Hamilton was wild and the XILE - IAYG Album release show at Whammy bar with Winnerz Circle was mental with great energy from the crowd for every band.
Rumor has it there is a new band from Bridge City named HomeFront, who are the members, what current or past bands have they been a part of, describe the style and influences, and will we get to see you play shows or is it more of a project band?
I knew this was coming haha. So, it's my childhood friend/band mate Sam Lingard and I on guitar we write all the riffs. My twin brother Sam and Mike from D.O.P. are on vocals, Sean from the NZHC 90s era on bass and Kane Powers who has played in Sixlip, Roll With The Punches. We have a full demo worth of songs between myself and friend Sam Linguard ready to go. If things go according to plans once that is released we will then do some live shows. Next year Homefront will be on the scene and doing shows. Bridge city Hardcore is alive and well.
Top 5 bands or albums that influenced you the most over the years?
That's a tough one but here's five that come to mind:
Machine Head - Burn My Eyes
No Zodiac - Population Control
OLC - Crime Ridden Society
Integrity - Those Who Fear Tomorrow
Bulldoze - The Final Beatdown.
Any words or advice for the up-and-coming bands in NZ?
To the youth, Start a band, you can do it kid!!! Stronger, faster, harder and better! Have faith in yourselves, your vision and see that shit through.
Would you like to give some final shout outs to end the interview?
Shout out to the Bridge City Crew you know who you are. Shout out to HomeFront, Pressure, Drop Off Point and all associated with Hamilton Hardcore past and present. All the Auckland crew. Luke, XILE, Soul Void and anyone who's shown respect, caught our set or helped us in any way, we appreciate you.