Mike Murphy Interview

Mike has been a good friend of mine for some time now and has been going to shows and does his best to keep the south Florida scene on its feet, I thought he would be a good first interview for my blog. In most of my interviews to come i will be interviewing people who i think are very influential in the hardcore scene all over the states but are not necessarily in bands, i want to find out what regular hardcore kids think about the world and there scene and what matters to them. So here are w few questions i had for mike.





Name? Mike Murphy

Age? 23... 24 in like 14 days

Location? South Florida

how long have you been going to hardcore shows in south FL? Fuck, I'd say since about 9th or 10th grade? Mikeim and John McHale were the ones who really got me to go to shows.

what was the first actual hardcore show you attended? Agnostic Front, Bane, Kill Your Idols. In Boynton Beach, Fl. A riot broke out and some bouncer was ripped out of his clothes, into just his boxers, where he then was standing on top of double stacked speakers. I also remember that someone had a Samurai sword and was swinging it around.

what was the last hardcore who you went to? and how was it? Blacklisted. It was alright. There is definitely a lot of younger kids coming out now, but its like a whole new breed. A lot of soft kids that are killing the vibe, but it's good to see a select few of them contributing something to the scene down here.

how long have you been straight edge and what does it mean to you? I've never drank or smoked ever in my life. But I never started saying I was straight edge until I was like 13. I remember my friend Mike Meade used to let me borrow his cd's, back when all I listened to was Machine Head and Morbid Angel. He was straight edge, so I started saying I was too, even before I knew what it was. Now I just love the fact that I can turn offers down with people peer pressuring me with out even a second thought. Straight Edge is just the way I live, I can't explain it any other way, cause this is how I've always been, it's me.

what is your current opinion of Hardcore in 2008? Like I said before, there is this whole "soft" vibe going on. People don't come out to shows because they think they are going to get beat up or that a fight is going to ruin the show. The violence is what got me going to shows in the first place. Raw, preemptive aggression of people who were going out to shows to listen to hard music as a way to relate and let out their own violent stress that has built up inside of them from dealing with the real world. Now, it's pathetic, kids would rather complain on message boards rather than come out to a show and support people who are making their way across the country to let you see them play in person and make a memory. I still love every day though, I wouldn't stop going for the world.

if you had a time machine and could go back to any time period where would you go? I would definitely love to go back to the mid/late 80's, and be like 17 or 18 years old. Seeing the bad brains or Black Flag with people of all different sorts of backgrounds coming out and just fucking exploding.

where do you see yourself in 5 years? Jail. But to be honest, I don't even know where I see myself in 10 minutes after this interview, haha.

whats does DNC mean too you? Dental Not Covered. I was skateboarding today, just chilling, eating some gummy bears when I go to lick the back of my fucking tooth and all of a sudden, a piece of my fucking tooth falls off and i pull it out. A piece of my fucking tooth. Fucked up grills for life. I love everyone involved in DNC and to me its some of my best friends that I know I can count on for anything, even if it's just a ride to a show or a ride to court 4 hours away. It's just friends.

if you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Alaska or Boston or Colorado maybe, I dont know, just not in Coral Springs for the rest of my life.

how would you describe your mosh? Lanky, I am too fucking tall to mosh and I know I look fucking stupid. I feel like a broom stick with pool noodles attached as limbs.

last fight you got in? At Blacklisted, when I saw some kid try to walk up and sneak Goofy Noah, I actually should have let the kid do it because Noah was acting like a fucking dweeb.

If you could book a show with 5 bands to play at the factory in ft Lauderdale who would they be?(any genre) Right Brigade, Terror, Outburst, Half Off, and I would love to see Know The Score play it.

least favorite hardcore band? That fast, psuedo grindcore shit. I do not like kids rolling around like the are having fucking seizures. I don't know, I really can't think of one I hate, cause I just wouldnt even bother listening to it if it was that bad.

are you going to be attending any fests this summer? Yeah, As One Fest, Sound And Fury(hopefully), and This Is Hardcore Fest(best fest in a long fucking time)

if you could change one thing in all the world what would it be? My criminal record, snitches, me being broke, the gap in my teeth, not playing basketball in highschool, and some of the girls I have fucked in the past come to mind. But to be real, I wouldn't change a fucking thing. Everyones life is different, everyones been on different paths, and made different choices, but I wouldn't be me if I changed any of it. I take the good and the bad.


Shout outs to DNC, KTS, Matt Murphy, Jess Noel, and all my friends I have met over the years. I love hardcore.