Line Brawl is a hardcore outfit out of Denver, Colorado specializing in fast, in-your-face punk rock that fosters a sort of well-manufactured chaos. Put simply, this band rips. They’ve got a new record coming out soon, so we caught up with their singer, Gary Chernyavsky, to ask him about what’s in store for the band and whether or not jock hardcore will make a comeback. Enjoy.

Can you speak a little bit about yourself, who Line Brawl is, what you do in the band, etc.?

A little about me? Honestly, I’m just a boring dude. My name is Gary, I sing in Line Brawl, I read comic books, go to shows, work at a burrito restaurant and watch hockey. Line Brawl is a Hardcore Punk band from Denver, CO. We’re a four piece, Matt plays drums, Alex plays guitar, and Ryan plays Bass. We play really fast, short songs that make you wanna throw your head through a wall, but in a good way.

You guys recently finished recording a new record, “Worse Off,” at the Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado which will come out on Irish Voodoo Records in the near future. How did the process of making this record differ from the recording of Pack Mentality and your earlier demos?

Yeah, it’ll be coming out on a 7 inch record, which is gonna be awesome. It’ll be our first release on vinyl which we’ve wanted to do for a minute now. When we first put out our three song demo, we just wrote three songs and did some basement recordings so we can get some stuff out for people to hear. When we recorded Pack Mentality we actually went to Rusty Sun Audio to record there 6 songs. I think just between everyone’s schedules, snow storms and other stuff, it took us almost two weeks to get the whole thing done. We were satisfied with it, but with the direction we were going in as a band, we wanted a different recording that would really catch our raw and rugged sound. So we worked with the Blasting Room to record Worse Off. That process was so much different because we had a timeline that we really had to stick to. We ended up recording 10 songs in two days. I’m pretty sure it took longer to mix and master the record than it did to actually record it.

What can we expect from the new record?

Fast.. Really fast. Most of the people I’ve played it to have said they’ve heard influence of punk, youth crew, power violence, hardcore, skate punk. It’s only nine minutes long so we really wanted to make it as gnarly/heavy/aggressive as possible.

How did the partnership with Irish Voodoo come about?

We played at a place in Fullerton, CA called Programme Skate Shop. It was hands down one of our favorite shows from the tour. The owner of Programme really liked us and passed on our music to his friend Joey who runs Irish Voodoo. One day he hit us up and offered to put out the new record and we’ve been working with him since.

You’ve been around long enough to see Denver Hardcore at what some would call its peak, through a period of stagnation, to now, when it seems like kids are starting to give a shit again. What’s changed? How can locals keep the ball rolling?

I think the biggest thing that’s changed is there are now a lot of newer kids in the scene and they’re all starting bands. On top of that, it’s bands that aren’t affiliated with some crew. Everyone is supporting each other because they don’t feel like they have to support a crew in the process. A lot of it is just starting new bands. The bands might not even be the best bands you’ve ever heard, but they’re putting themselves out there and giving everyone something to be proud of and stoked about. It’s easier to have a good hardcore scene when there’s local presence. The only way to keep it going is to keep starting bands, keep coming out to shows, keep supporting each other. Without those factors, it’ll die like it did once before.

Right now, there’s a clear split between types of shows happening in Denver, between those that are, for lack of a better word, crew-related, and those that aren’t. Is that split detrimental to the health of the local community?

It’s more than just crew-related stuff. There’s a split between people that support a crew, pretentious throwback kids that try to emulate a scene that existed in the late 80’s where kids that think they’re skin-heads and youth crew, and then there’s the kids that just wanna go to shows and have fun. I used to think that the split is harmful to the scene, but honestly, everyone is doing fine. An all local show has the ability to draw over 100 kids on a Friday night. I think two years ago it definitely caused some damage, but now it’s not really an issue.

Hardcore is inherently aggressive, so violence is often an accompanying factor at shows. Is there a line? Seems like there are opinions on every end of the spectrum, from people wanting the shows to feel more inclusive towards outsiders, to those that want every show to be as crazy and violent as possible.

I definitely think there’s a line. I don’t wanna go to a show where some dude is facing the crowd and just swinging on anyone in sight. I think crowd moshing is stupid as fuck. It’s especially stupid because there’s a ridiculous double standard where someone thinks it’s ok to swing on a kid, but when the kid swings back, he gets stomped out by 5 dudes. I don’t mind violence and chaos. Hardcore shows are meant to be chaotic. But I like the type of violence where everyone is going so crazy that you can’t expect whats gonna happen next. Maybe you’ll get hit with a bass or a piece of the drum set? As for being more inclusive to outsiders, I think we should accept people until we have reason not to. I’ve learned over the years that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover. I don’t know everyone’s story or how they ended up coming to a show.

Line Brawl is playing a much faster, punk-influenced brand of hardcore than most other bands these days. How important is it for younger hardcore bands to know and understand the genre’s roots in punk rock?

Honestly, for me it’s important. I like educating younger kids on roots of hardcore and showing them a bunch of old bands. It’s not a necessity though. Now a days, it’s more common for young kids to come from metalcore and scene kid show. I think if they have the desire to learn the roots, they will on their own time. I’ll always be surprised when a young kid doesn’t know Gorilla Biscuits or Minor Threat, but I think as long as they’re there for the right reason, the education can come later.

Speaking to the genre’s roots, there was recently controversy over statements made by Gorilla Biscuits front-man Civ regarding the BLM movement. People were very quick to completely write-off the entire band following that incident, which is significant considering GB’s place in history. Is there a battle in modern hardcore between the need to always say the right thing and the ability to freely express your views?

That’s a hard topic to talk about. I saw the video. I know what Civ stands for and I know what GB sings about as a band. I know their stance on racism. I think the way the worded it was taken the wrong way. I don’t think Civ believes at all that the BLM movement doesn’t matter. I definitely think there’s a pressure to always say the right thing. Hardcore was once a place where you can openly speak about your opinion and people would accept you, even if they didn’t agree with it. I have a song on our new record where I saw “because having an opinion no longer means thinking for yourself.” It’s what I’m noticing in hardcore. Everyone wants you to express individuality, but if your opinion doesn’t match their opinion of what it means to be an individual, then you’ll be ostracized for it. With that being said, back to the Civ and BLM thing, I wholeheartedly support the BLM movement, but like Civ, I think it’s sad that in 2016 we STILL have to say that Black Lives Matter. Of course they matter. It’s sad that we still have to teach people that Black Lives Matter. It should be known by now without having to teach it. It’s bullshit with how progressive this world is, we still have to worry about racism and Black people being murdered simply because of the color of their skin. But with all that being said, I feel like racism is on the rise and the BLM movement is extremely important. It’s sad that we need to educate people about it, but if that’s the only way people are gonna get it through people’s heads then I believe the movement is detrimental to further progression of the United States.

Let’s end with some easy questions. You’re stranded on an island with only one record to listen to. What is it?

Come on dude, you said easy question. I don’t even have an answer to this.

Line Brawl is a hockey reference. Is there going to be a comeback of jock hardcore in the vein of Floorpunch?

Haha no not at all. A line brawl in hockey is when everyone on the ice is fighting at the same time. We thought our style of music matched the term because it’s fast and aggressive.

What music should people be checking out?

Check out this band called Line Brawl. Just kidding.. Listen to whatever you want and support local bands. Support local record stores and find new bands to listen to however you can.

Thanks for doing this Gary. Anything else you’d like to add?

Of course dude. I appreciate you asking me all this. Nah not really much else to add. I guess I just wanna say thank you to everyone that’s shown us love or support.

Go see Line Brawl at a show. Check out their new record. Start a band. Contribute.