I did this interview with Mark from Go It Alone on October 3, 2007 a few months before the band played their final show in Vancouver.
GO IT ALONE INTERVIEW
Go It Alone has been a mainstay in the hardcore scene for nearly 5 years. With a demo, one EP, two singles, a split 7" with Blue Monday and two full lengths, most recently "Histories" all put out by Rivalry Records, the band has decided to call it quits following completion of their recent US & Canadian Summer Tour. They played their final show in Vancouver in late Fall and ended a long run as a truly passionate and memorable band. I decided to get an interview in with their singer Mark before this great band ceased to exist
First off, you guys recently ended a full US and extensive Canadian tour that included most shows with Verse, I Rise, and Soul Control, how did the tour go? Best shows? Coolest things you saw?
Mark: It was a great tour to end the band on. We've toured with Verse before in the past so it was cool to spend some more time with them, although Dr. Celsius wasn't on this trip. It's just not the same without him. For me, the highlight was playing Atlantic Canada. It's such a remote part of the continent that almost no one tours there, especially Newfoundland. In order to get to
St. Johns, Newfoundland, we had to drive five hours, take a 9 hour ferry, and then drive 9 more hours. Believe it or not, it was totally worth the trip. We played two shows and kids were psyched. A local told us it was the best show they'd had since 1991!
What are your main influences musically? Give me some of your most influential records personally.
Mark: I've been influenced in one way or another by so many records over the years that it would be impossible to make a full list, but some stuff that I really love is Reserve 34, Black Flag, Soundgarden, Battery, Chokehold, Chain of Strength, Infest, Elliot Smith, In Stride, Carry On, Unbroken, Bjork, Damnation a.d., The Doors, Dropdead, the list goes on, and on, and on.
If you had to pick one current band to tour with that you never got a chance to, who would it be?
Mark: Well, we finally did a short little trip with In Stride, but I wish we had the chance to do a full tour with them.
Did you guys ever consider breaking up after your drummer Lucas was severely injured? I've heard a few stories but what exactly happened to him?
Mark: When it first happened we weren't sure if he was going to live or die, but once the doctors told us that he was going to be able to function again we were committed to continuing the band. At that point we had only scratched the surface of what we wanted to accomplish with the band so calling it quits wasn't really an option. Far beyond driven.
"Histories" came out several months ago on Rivalry, what are your thoughts on the way this album came out and how it compares to past material? It definitely seems to be a little darker and heavier, Damnation AD is the influence I hear thrown around a lot and I can see that.
Mark: I'm really, really pleased with how the record turned out. I think it bummed some people out when it came out, but I think the 'Histories' 7" and LP are by far our best releases. Damnation was a big influence on the songwriting for Histories. Obviously, we don't tune way down and sound crushingly heavy like Damnation, but the type of chord progressions I chose are very influenced by them.
Was "Histories" written with the band knowing that it would be the last record or was that decision made more recently?
Mark: I knew it was going to be the final record when I wrote it.
What has it been like working with Rivalry Records for essentially the entire life of the band?
Mark: Our first 7" was originally released by a different label, but ever since then we've been releasing stuff on Rivalry. Kyle has helped us and supported us so much it's unreal. We've made
some good friends through the label with Verse, Allegiance, and The First Step. I think I view running a label a little differently than he does sometimes, but overall I'm really happy with what he's done for us.
Any good bands coming out of the Northwest right now that the rest of the country should look out for?
Mark: In Stride's 7" just came out on Bottled Up Records. It's a great record, by an unknown band. Other than that, check out Weight, Get The Most, Keep It Clear, Sidetracked, and Black Breath. www.legitimatebros.com has got info on a lot of the bands from our little circle of friends.
The song "Evelyn" talks about some of the poverty stricken areas of Vancouver, but how do you feel about the city as a whole and what are the coolest things to do/see there? Do you enjoy living there and is there any other place you'd like to live at some point in your life?
Mark: On a whole, Vancouver is one of the greatest cities on earth. It's has a lot of problems with poverty, like you mentioned, but there is also a lot of beauty here. The coolest aspect of the
city is that is surrounded by nature. Its so easy to get to the ocean, the mountains, camping, swimming, hiking, etc. It rains way too much in the winter, but the summer is paradise for me. I would consider living somewhere else, to escape the rain and just to experience something new.
I've lived here my entire life so even though it's a great place I find myself feeling a little stagnant from time to time.
"Water Finds Its Own Level" was originally on the demo and was re-recorded for "The Only Blood..." Why did you decide to not include it on "Vancouver Gold" like some of the other demo songs were but instead do it a few years later?
Mark: We took a vote within the band to see which two songs we would rerecord for Vancouver Gold. It turned out that 'Picking Up The Pieces' and 'Turn It Off' won. We still liked 'Water Finds It's Own Level' so when we recorded the first LP we decided to rescue it from the horrible
demo recording. Simple as that. I actually still really like the songs 'Reflection' and 'Close At Hand' from the demo. In a lot of ways they fit in really well with the musical direction we took on our final recordings.
"Inheritance" is one of my favorite GIA songs. Lyrically it talks about (or at least what I get out of it) blind patriotism and altering history to hide injustices. Was there a person in particular who opened your eyes up to how much junk we are sometimes taught about our past or a certain event that prompted this song?
Mark: I think I first began thinking about this subject in regards to the residential schools that existed here in Canada. Native children were forced into Christian schools for the purpose of stripping them of their own culture, spirituality, language, etc. to be replaced with white, Christian, European values, language, and tradition. In addition to this, countless children suffered further physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their teachers. Despite this horrible history, Canada has crafted an image for itself that is very, liberal, progressive, and tolerant, but in truth the whole country is built on a foundation of genocide. This is just one example of the
fact that history is a very malleable thing, it is shaped and crafted by those in power to suit their motives.
Random question but I always wonder about weird stuff like this. Being close to the US border in Canada, do you mainly stay in Canada or do you venture over to Washington often? Is it a hassle to cross the border back and forth?
Mark: We cross the border all the time. Our circle of friends includes easily as many Washington heads as it does Vancouverites. However, crossing the border as a band is always stressful and often a huge hassle. Playing shows is technically considered working as money is changing hands, so without a work permit it is actually illegal to play shows in the US. What they fail to realize is we are a tiny band, barely making any money, almost all of which goes directly back into the US economy when we fill up the van with gas anyway.
Never been to Canada personally but it seems like a great country, do you prefer living in Canada to the US? Why or why not?
Mark: There are pros and cons to living in Canada. It's further north so there are no parts
of the country that have nice weather year round. However, our citizens are taken care of
a lot better than those of the United States. It's a lot less of an "everyman for himself" mentality here, when it comes to paying medical bills and whatnot. It's far from perfect, but the social programs are far superior to the USA.
The band has enjoyed a great lifespan and done just about everything there is to do over the past 5 years or so, is that the main reason why Go It Alone is breaking up, just feeling the band has run its course?
Mark: That really is the main reason we are calling it a day. Beyond that, we finally released
a record that I'm really happy with so I feel like we've created a document of our existence that
I can be proud to leave behind.
If Go It Alone was going to write another album, how do you think it would sound?
Mark: If we were to write another album I think it would continue much further in the direction
of some of the "weirder" songs from the 'Histories' session. I'm talking about songs like 'Weight II', 'Beacon', 'Monastery', and 'Histories'. Slower, heavier, darker. I'm actually working on a new project called DEVOTION that is probably what Go It Alone would have morphed into, had we continued.
As a Southern Californian I'm interested to know, what have been some of your favorite GIA shows in the area?
Mark: Our shows at Chain Reaction in Anaheim have always been some of the best. Al Brown's January First Fest in Redondo Beach was sick. Che Cafe in San Diego used to be one of my favorite places to play. It seems like things slowed down there for a while, but when we first started the band we had some of our best shows there.
Favorite GIA songs for you personally?
Mark: That's a tough call. I'm really proud of 'Beacon' on the Histories 7" single. I have a hard time listening to the older records sometimes. I like 'Weight II' a lot. 'Rapture' turned out really well. I'm just psyched on all the songs from the Histories session, to be honest. I feel like we finally came close to realizing the vision I had in my head.
So with the tour recently concluding, will there only be one final show at home? Any details on date, bands playing, venue yet?
Mark: It's not all completely confirmed yet, but the final performance should be in Vancouver in December 2007. We're trying to get almost all the bands that we toured with over the years on the bill. It's going to be a big event for Vancouver Hardcore.
Any regrets as far as things the band didn't get a chance to do or maybe didn't do like you had planned?
Mark; My main regret was that we got a bit too tangled up in the "professional" side of hardcore. I guess I'm talking about the comodification of hardcore. The thing is, I'm interested in the artistic side of music, not the business side, so as a result I don't think I was quite vigilant enough in making sure that we were always "marketed" in a way that I'm fully comfortable with. In future projects I intend to retain more control over how our music and our band is sold and presented. It's nothing that keeps me up at night, but I've learned a lot from my experiences with this band and I intend to use what I've learned in the future, that's all.
Things that you will look upon most fondly when you think about the band years down the line?
Mark: The thing I'll miss most is the feeling of brotherhood that I've shared with the other members of the band. I don't mean brotherhood in a cheezy or exclusionary, malecentric way, I just mean a group a friends all working together towards a common goal. It took all of us doing our part to make this happen. That's what I'll look back on most fondly.
Looking ahead to the future, what is next for the members of Go It Alone? I know that you drum in Get The Most, will that mean more activity from GTM as far as touring? California is due for a GTM show.
Mark: I'm actually no longer in Get The Most, but they have a new drummer and have some touring plans in the works. Aside from that, I'm working on DEVOTION, as I already mentioned. WEIGHT, KEEP IT CLEAR, BLACK BREATH, and CRISIS OF MAN all have Go It Alone alumni in their ranks, so we're all still involved in hardcore. We're keeping busy: I will be skateboarding, Eric will be running Ace/Face screenprinting, Brad will be gambling, Lucas will be scuba diving, and Smokestack will be becoming a doctor.
Do you have any desire to sing in a band ever again,why or why not?
Mark: I'm quite confident I will sing in another band someday.
What are your main hobbies besides music?
Mark: Skateboarding, art, nature, am radio.
Thanks a ton for doing this interview and thanks for the memories, any random closing comments?
Mark: Thank you for caring about what we did as a band.
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