GODSTOMPER is powerviolence band from Sunnyvale, California, known for extremely short, fast, and chaotic songs and true diy attitude. They formed in 1991 and they are a part of West Coast pv scene. Answers by Paul Barfo.
OK, let´s go, How did GODSTOMPER form? When did you begin playing together? What was/is the band goal??
Godstomper formed in 1991 when I wanted to play fast hardcore noise grind stuff with just bass and drums with my drummer who also happens to be my brother. I was having a hard time trying to get bands to let me play bass in their bands and I hated all the shit they were playing so I decided to just keep it simple with drums and bass guitar . The band had no goal to be honest. We just wanted to be a diy punk band that wasn’t a bunch of rock star assholes and play with other like minded bands who didn’t give a shit.
Did you initially planned to play as duo or not?
It was always planned as a duo because no guitarists would want to play with us because we played too fast and the guitar couldn’t keep up.
Is there any particular band, record or something that inspired you to start GODSTOMPER? How impact had a local grind/powerviolence scene like SPAZZ / PLUTOCRACY?
I always saw RUINS from Japan as the music that made me think bass and drums can play any kind of music and so I used that as the basis of what GODSTOMPER should be.
Are you still in the touch with those guys from ´90s?
SPAZZ, PLUTO, NO LESS, AGENTS OF SATAN, ETO, SLOBBER all inspired me to the highest degree because they were doing whatever they wanted to do musically and it was all local and very diy which gave us a a boost in inspiration to play more shows , do demos and support new bands. Ya I see those guys once in awhile at shows or at randon places ie. around town ie. Redwood city. Everyones pretty busy with their own lives so its a lot more rare now then when I was in my 20’s when everyone was in college or working locally and more bands were playing.
It seems that you take influences from a thrash/grind/power violence bands existing in 90´s. What were the key bands which influenced GODSTOMPER´s sound?
Ya theres alot of the 90’s powerviolence sound in Godstomper like SPAZZ or CROSSED OUT or even MITB. I think theres also that british grindcore sound from old NAPALM or even some crust elements from DOOM or BOLT THROWER.
The key bands in the GOSTOMPER sound are old 80’s NAPALM , SPAZZ, DOOM, CATHEDRAL, AGATHOCLES and BOLT THROWER. Theres also the obscure Bay area shoe gazer lo-fi rock noise band CALM that basically you can say is the main building block of the GODSTOMPER sound.
GODSTOMPER has been part of the famous power violence era of ´90s, how do you remember these times? I mean Fiesta Grande, those first and original pv bands, Slap a ham records and so on….
Ya I do remember those times too vividly esp. if I pass places that we frequented during that time, Gilman st. some warehouses , basements etc.They were fun times til some bands started to attain a certain level of success and then the drama started within certain camps regarding selling out, favoritism and girls.
I was more interested in playing shows , putting out records and trying to graduate from college. I never thought GODSTOMPER would last this long.
On a Slap A ham level, the bands were spear heading a musical movement that was new and different esp. without the use of the internet, it was very successful for most of the bands on Slap a ham to get more shows, more record releases and exposure.
Do you see a major change in the attitude of the people coming out to see you play? Can you compare 90s and nowadays scene?
I do actually. Kids now are more open minded I think to underground music, hungry for something new. Back then kids were into what was popular like pop punk, glam punk etc. Powerviolence was seen as this weird subgenre that probably will always be seen as that. Why is it weird? Because its not metal or hardcore or punk or crust enough – its just itself and has no reason to prove otherwise what it is. Oh definitely I can see a huge cultural difference in 90’s hardcore scene to todays hardcore scene . Thats a 23 year difference. Now kids can get instant exposure via the web instantly with their bands. Back then you needed to trade demos , find zines and do everything yourself because no one wanted to touch any kind of subgenres that aren’t musically well known like death metal or grindcore.
At the moment popularity of power violence style has increased a lot in the last time. There´s a plenty of pv bands in the States who plays like (or exactly the same CROSSED OUT style, old bands been reformed like INFEST for instance. Are you glad by this or not?
To be honest I knew this would of happened back in 1998. I would laugh about it with my friend Spitboy about how everyone in 1998 whose like 5 years old would be playing INFEST or CROSSED OUT stuff in 2005 or 2008 or 2009 but 2013? I’m shocked by how kids who were babies when we were playing are now doing this stuff.
Its cool thou, we got a audience that spans about two decades. Now I know how old punk bands feel about playing for their friends kids.
What’s your thoughts on newer bands that are playing these days?
I’m glad they are playing. More the merrier. MAGRUDERGRIND, ACXDC, COKE BUST, TURBOKRIEG, MAGNUM FORCE, TERJASUNG 13, REPLICA etc.. ya man bring on all those new bands, now I can retire.
What are your songs about? I guess that you describe much more issues of daily life than some kind of radical politics, right?
They are cryptic songs about my life mixed with socially aware ideas about hating authority, rebelling against society because of our skin color or race, loss of love, abandonment, hatred of ourselves, death and fucking shit up. Radical politics are a necessity at any age and what I noticed is that ideals change as you get older and are replaced with other priorities like careers, families and money so I never really wrote about radical ideas because I didn’t want to be a hypocrite if I changed my ideas later on in my life.
„Emo attitude sucks“ say the tittle of your full 7“EP, did you ever get any responses on that ? Hahaha… I remember also a HELLNATION patch putting „emo“ to a waste or „At war with emo“ etc., at the moment is too peace between emo and power violence scene ahahaha….
Oh yes I did …. Everything from I’m a asshole to I’m a closet emo kid to fuck you and your shitty SPAZZ clone band. I despised the emo scene believe me, it was everything wrong with diy culture. It brought out the worst in people and attracted the worst people you could ever think of.
I wanted to ask you about your „Gunculture“ EP, you ment „gunculture in USA“? I recently read that in the States the number of women carrying guns is reaching record highs nationwide…
Ya actually I was refering to the gunculture in the states back in 1997. I was very anti gun and felt there could have been better alternatives tan just have everyone armed to the teeth with guns. Now I think guns are a necessity against the government and criminals. Yes, more women now in the states are carrying guns. Thou its interesting to read that the crime rates in the states have gone down historically in the past 40 years. Maybe it could be because more women are packing guns.
To speak about lyrics strictly, what is your favourite artist or band?
DOOM, NAPALM DEATH, MITB, SPAZZ and MÖTORHEAD.
When and how did you get into hardcore/grind scene? How many years are you part of scene?
I got into listening to punk grind shit about 1987 when I first heard Scum on a college radio station and also Doom as part of a indy overseas punk rasio show. I hated Scum actually at first but found it more interesting because of the noise and the lyrics – me being very socially aware as a young preteen. I soon started to look for grind records at record stores, MRR, and soon heard about diy shows in basements, punk clubs and I was hooked. This was about 1991. I think I’ve been in my scene for about 18 years.
After starting your project THE BARFOS was GODSTOMPER put on hiatus, what´s happend those days ? Share a story for us.
Well THE BARFOS happened when GODSTOMPER ran out of creative steam in 1992 – we had no idea how to continue as grind noise band so THE BARFOS was started to vent our creativity as a all out anti music band with two guitarists Kris and Dave whom I went to high school with. Danny was on drums still but we added three guitars including our first female guitarist Raina but she left after three practices. This was about 1992 to 1993. We put out a few demos, we were all busy with high school so anything musical became more serious til after I graduated in 1994 and we continued to play for demos til 1996 when everyone got sick of the barfos, I had a falling out with the guitarists, got into a disagreement about the direction, they ceased THE BARFOS, told me to not to use the name anymore because it was dead even thou it was my project, I decided to restart GODSTOMPER after deciding not to argue about THE BARFOS with them and the rest was history.
What does DIY means for you? How important do you see DIY in hardcore?
DIY means to me taking control of my life and doing whatever I want to make things happen. Its not really important to be honest in hardcore because a lot of bands I’ve seen move on from diy and use it as a stepping stone to further their musical careers. A real diy hardcore band would keep playing for diy’s sake or just break up instead of changing their ideals.
You have been working with DIY labels. Do you prefer to work strictly with DIY labels? What´s your opinion on major labels? So called 2nd wave of power violence bands has been releasing a records through labels like Relapse or even Scion. I guess that´s still much more ways how to release records under D.I.Y. labels and not to be a part of this. What´s your opinion?
I like diy labels because thats all we’ve ever worked with. Major labels I don’t think would know what to do with a band like us and now I could care less about being on a major. Majors are there to make money its all business. Thats it. GODSTOMPER is not a business, it is a philosophy, a way of life, a fuck you to the establishment. If bands want to make money or make a career out of their music thats their choice. I personally wouldn’t want anything to do with that. Why should we? We don’t care about being rockstars or playing to big crowds.
What do you like on D.I.Y. and the hardcore scene most? And what do you really hate towards the HC scene and its negative aspects? And why?
I like it when a kid starts a zine, starts a band, puts on a show, steals from starbucks and gives out free food to everyone and everyone feels welcomed and is having fun. Thats what makes me love diy hardcore.
I hate it when bands treat people like shit or use diy as a way to establish credibility with the underground scene when they suck corporate cock.
I hate street cred bands and people who throw names around to become scenesters. I hate kids who steal from other kids, drugs, abuse, assholes, hypocrites, backstabbers, posers and scene jumpers. I’ve seen enough of that in the past two decades I’m just fed up with that aspect of people. I know kids are always looking for identity, thats good but I wish there was more sincerity toward peoples efforts involving trying to create something that can change our lives for the better.
How impact has being in band or part of diy scene on your personal life?What is your main job?
I keep my part in the scene as a musician differently from my professional life because I’m pretty reserved about it. Its like telling people your a graffiti artist or vandal because your subverting society with your ideas and sometimes people who aren’t in the know would understand. Many of my friends are musicians or artists in many of the bands you’ve heard of and we talk about things from time to time, personal or scene wise. I’m a facililties manager for a church! haha. I also paint paintings like a artist kind stuff.
To see some a demands from several hc/punk bands, do you think there´s a problem, if you remain D.I.Y. and start to make enough money off the band?
Its a problem if it affects my friends who run labels or do shows because they aren’t pro bookers or pro label people, just punks having fun and doing stuff and bands create all these really unrealistic demands.
I mean if you can make money off your work and your doing well I think thats fine. It all depends on what your priorities lie. Money or philosophy.
If you apply your philosophy to your money, you can help out bands, put out records, start a zine, open a club, start a collective , help homeless people, feed the hungry, save the whales etc… All that except just lining your pockets with more cash and buying shit that isn’t really in line with your ideals.
You have many „studio“ releases during the years, but I didn´t noticed any massive tours or events, do you hate touring or because a lack of time? Can we expect European tour soon? How was your EU tour in 2003?
We toured a few times and did a major U.S. tour in 1999 but sometimes things occur in our lives personally that take further importance than the band.
I love touring, my brother ehh he’s soso about it. Our Euro tour never happened due to my bro having some personal problems at the time. Everything changed for his life after that and it has affected the band ever since.Who knows if we will ever tour again.
Where is your favourite place to play? Do you have some local unofficial space for gigs or not? What was the craziest place you ever played?
I like playing basements and bedrooms . Seriously, fuck venues.We play anywhere actually but we rather play that ditch near the garbage dump.
Craziest show was a show in Arizona for Reservation kids ie. Native American kids. Pretty violent, got my face cut up by the mic.
As I said you made lot of records, split´s, is there any record which is different and special from the rest? You did lots of split records, is it significant format of release for you?After being so many years in a band, is it hard to write a new material?
Hmm, I think Anarchy USA was the most different because I allowed my brother to write and produce the whole thing himself because he really needed to cathartically clear his demons on his own release. I like split records, I think its good to have two different bands to listen to on a piece of vinyl. Gives you a good selection. Actually you know I haven’t run out of material yet.
Something in life always occurs that inspires you to write stuff.
Today´s hardcore scene using the same „tools“ as the mainstream one, I mean tools like social sites with those facebook events and that shit, generally internet and so on…is it still valid to label hardcore scene as an underground?
Ya I think internet sites that help bands get their stuff out is very valid, in fact its the way of the future. It had to happen. In fact maybe thats why the underground is still flourishing and alive. Its really about to the band to decide if they want to use it or not thou.
I read somewhere that your favorite book is “This Band Could Be Your Life” where you said that it just reinforces the reason why you play underground D. I. Y. music when you feel that you going nowhere. OK, can you explain this and in fact what is the real reason or what motivates you to continue on and on?
Yes, actually I love that book because you have all these veterans of the old hardcore scene tell you how it was back in the 80’s of creating a musical revolution that started in the bedrooms and basements and you know you can do all that as well. Sometimes you lose sight of whats guiding your philosophy and that philosophy is just controlling your own life and then its those little things that set you back into why you do the things you do regardless or age or finances or personal problems.
In fact, how old you are you Paul? Can GODSTOMPER exist next 10 years?
I’m 39 but look and act like a 25 year old. I dunno if Godstomper will exist another year or month. At my age I just take it one day at a time.
I am pretty sure that you are a fan of analog recordings instead of digital. How and where do you record your music?
I love analog. Digital is the way of things but I never pass up a analog oppurtunity. We record with various engineers, friends places, formats, digital, analog, tape or a dat or reel to reel, lo-fi to hi-fi, a million dollar studio to a basement .
What are your future plans?
Keep recording, new records, play shows, tour hopefully and write books about the robotic holocaust.
OK, anything else? Thanks a lot for the interview, all the best and see you hopefully in Europe soon.
Keep diy alive, fuck the corporate bands, love everyone, drink but don´t fight, sxe friends support your drunk friends, help the poor, don’t be swindled and never let them take you alive.
Thanks for the interview. Hopefully we’ll see the European coasts.