|Buried Alive|

Mike: Name and occupation.
Scott: Serious occupation?
Mike: Yeah, what do you do in the band and in real life?
Scott: Oh, uh, Scott Vogel. I scream, I hate to say "sing" because I definitely don't sing. (laughs) I'm the vocalist of Buried Alive and when I'm not doing that, I uh, (laughs) I telemarket.
Mike and Garrett: (Expressions of shock and dismay)
Scott: (laughs) No, hey listen, I've been doing the same job for 5 years, I love it. My bosses are the coolest people in the world; they let me do whatever I want. I love my job. But everyone reacts like that.
Garrett: So you guys are on tour with Snapcase and Kid Dynamite. How's that going? How have the shows you've played been?
Scott: It's been, uh, three shows so far: Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Today's our day off, so we booked a show because there's quite a few days off and I don't think Snapcase likes to drive that far without a rest, because, you know, they can do that. Which is fine, I'd like to do the same thing, but we can't do it. So we booked a couple shows here and there. It was Friday, Saturday, Sunday so far, it goes for 25 shows and I mean, it's fucking insane. The first three shows were sold out. We played Albany, Philly and New York City...it's fucking crazy, kids galore.
Mike: Did you play the Troc in Philly?
Scott: Troc, 1200 people. I was very scared. I mean it went over fucking awesome. We played first and, uh, looked out and the place was already full with like hundreds and hundreds of people. It was fucking awesome, but it was definitely scary. It's something we're not used to, playing for lots of people.
Mike: (laughs) At shows we're not used to having crowds. So one thing I noticed when I was reading your lyrics was that some people may take them as negative. But when I see you live, you guys are really positive about what you do, other people in the scene, etc.. Have you ever gotten any backlash from people thinking you are a thug band?
Scott: (laughs) The only way we get mixed in with thug bands is my fault because...
Mike: I'm a thug.
Scott: (laughs) No, but I love Merauder, All Out War and Madball. Those are like my favorite bands, and a lot of people in the band listen to stuff like that. So, we have a little bit of that in our music, but if you look at us, I mean we're all little, skinny, untatooed dudes that couldn't beat ourselves out of a wet bag. But lyrically, the whole thing like you commented on very well,... if you just read them, you'd think we're very negative. But the whole idea is to have an eye opener, to see what is going on, don't be so fucking blind. See that there's problems in our scene: too much competition, too much of this, too much of that. So when you're reading the lyrics, you know, I want it to be angry, so when the music's going on I want it to be angry. But then when I explain the songs, I try to show that what I'm trying to do is just to open everyone's eyes to flip because the hardcore scene, and whatever scene you're in, people just  look for bad, pick at each other [at this point Scott makes a sound with his mouth resembling a fart]. Instead, if you look for the good in something and maybe you find other ways to work things out, things could be a whole lot better and if bands were trying to help bands instead of shitting on bands and kids were out there supporting bands instead of shitting on bands, things could be better. But, as the hardcore world emulates the outside world...I dunno, there's a lot of bad things that go on everywhere. It's good to meet people and talk to people that can keep their head together amongst so much shit,
Garrett: In the liner note of "Death of your Perfect World" there's just one thing that I thought was fucking awesome when I read it was that you said "We'd like to thank all vegans and vegetarians for the sacrifices they make everyday." As a vegetarian myself, I was like "wow", you know, it's not that often that like a lot of bands go out of there way to say something about that. It was really uplifting for me. What made you guys decide to do that?
Scott: First of all, I wanna... (laughs) I dunno. It kind of sucks because our one guitarist isn't vegan anymore and he's not a vegetarian. So like I dunno if I should just come out and say that 'cause it's not what you're asking.
Scott: Uh, well, everyone in the band was really big on it, so we wanted to do it. That song "Nothing at All"? We don't play it anymore because he's not vegan anymore.
Mike: Yeah, I was lookin' for that on the set list but it wasn't there.
Scott: Yeah, we'll never play that again. And we thought about "We'll that's kind of fucked up, should he be in the band?" We decided that he's got a lot more good to him and we gotta accept him for who he is. People, you know, change and stuff. I don't particularly agree with it. So I wished you had asked that question six months ago, I would have been all over that shit. (laughs)
{At this point a cop tells us to move from in front of the police station. We do so.}
Scott: Dude, we got kicked out.
Mike: That's so punk rock.
{The interview resumes in front of a theater.}
Mike: One time I saw you guys playing with Converge at the Melody [in NJ] you said something that was really cool about hardcore in general. You summed it all up pretty well. So, if you met like some kid's grandma who asked you what hardcore was all about what would you say to her?
Scott: Aw, man...I think the beauty of hardcore that got me into it was, I mean a lot of people like aggressive music like metal and stuff like that, I always did when I was young. Then, when I got turned onto hardcore, uh...first show I saw like D.R.I. and Gang Green. That's kind of hardcore, but like a week later I saw 7 Seconds and they played with this local Buffalo band Zero Tolerance.
Mike: Oh yeah, Jeremy from Earth to Ashes was in that band
Scott: Yeah dude. They, I mean, they had an awesome message, it was intense, kids new every word, kids were going off and I think the beauty of hardcore that separates it from anything, metal, anything is the band and crowd together sweatin it out on the same level. Aggression, getting everything out and hopefully a message behind it, you know. There's a lot of bands, I think a lot of bands these days don't give a shit about anything except like playing and moshing. I want kids to go off harder than anything, but there's got to be some substance to it for me you know? Did I some that up correctly?
Mike: That's good, yeah.
Scott: It's also about losing money. (laughs) I think another thing is as I get older, like traveling and meeting people and seeing places. I know when my phone rings, nine out of ten times it's gonna be someone I met through one of my stupid fucking bands, and that's really cool. So that's that.
Garrett: What did you think of Richmond?
Scott: Richmond? I've always heard about Twister's for years and I've never been here, I've never been to Richmond. I mean for a Monday night, they just told me there was like over a hundred people paid. I know the local bands brought a lot of people, and that's fucking awesome. I mean, I don't know how many people would've been here if it wasn't for them. But I mean, we're just the type of band that we don't give a shit. We're just gonna play for whoever's there. I mean, we do this because we wanna do this, because we have to and not, you know, to be rockers. But I mean, it was awesome. Kids were really receptive, we sold some stuff; so hopefully, you know, next time we come back it'll be better. That's how it works, I guess.
Mike: Say that someone's in the scene and they're really into it and they just leave. Do you think they can still take away things from hardcore that will help them?
Scott: Definitely. I mean, I know lots of people that have been in and out of hardcore. But like...you know...(laughs) I dunno, because I'm like 26 so I have a lot of people that I've seen come and go and I'm still in contact with. But a lot of the values that are instilled through hardcore I think you stick with. Like, I had this same conversation with an ex-girlfriend of mine that was my girlfriend for four years and she was into hardcore for like seven years. When we broke up, she stopped going to shows; stupid excuses like "I couldn't see you there, blah, blah, blah." And I'm like "That's fucking stupid." And she's like "You know Scott, I still, you know, everything I've learned and all the things I've experienced are still with me. So, just because I'm not at a show every weekend it doesn't mean, you know, I'm still not there." But, there is something to be said for people who go to shows and support bands, smaller bands and stuff like that.
Garrett: I just like asking this: What about the fashion of today's hardcore kids? The messenger bags, the baggy pants…
Scott: Oh God, I have one of those. I dunno. I mean, I guess whatever you're into you have a little fashion to it. I think a lot of people get wrapped up in color vinyl and how they're dressed for a show and if their t-shirt is old enough. The whole computer thing....I hate that shit. But anyway, I mean, I like to look OK, you know?
Mike and Garrett: And you do look good, Scott.
Scott: (laughs) Some people get too wrapped up in stuff and you can tell if they're planning their wardrobe out the night before a show. It's also cool when you can drive down the street in some different city and pick out a hardcore kid just by the way he's dressed.
Mike: Do you feel that wherever you go, that if you see hardcore kids you're amongst friends?

Scott: That's the good side of things, but also sometimes some places you go people aren't very friendly. I remember like, uh, we just did a long tour with All Out War and we played out in Houston, Miami, Seattle, a couple of places just come to mind of the top of my head, where people were like, we'd never been there before, we didn't know anyone there, we showed up, they totally took care of us, were into the band and what we had to say. I mean, when something like that, I mean tonight was real cool but some places you click with people and like we're going back there now on this tour and I can't wait, it's gonna be awesome. You know there are some places where you go where people don't give a fuck who you are if you're not the cool "in" band. They don't watch you, they don't come in. Nothing makes me more discouraged, I mean it happens in Buffalo too where I'm from. Go to a show, people pay their money, like a cool local band will play, people will be in there. Then some new band from out of town that no one's ever heard of, everyone's outside talkin'. And it's like this band could blow your mind. And it's like if you're in a band at some point, or if you are, you're gonna go watch all the bands because you know what it's like when you're up there and no one's fucking watching you and stuff like that. So, I don't know, I guess it's not really, you could say, but it really isn't, it's kind of a scene's responsibility to take care of the bands or the bands aren't gonna come back. No one wants to drive five hours to get paid $50. You know, if you drive ten hours, get paid $50, lose money but have an awesome show, nothing matters. But if you lose tons of money and no one gives a fuck, you're not gonna wanna come back.
Garrett: So you guys started off on Victory. Was that hard to do? Though, I mean you have been in bands before that were pretty successful. (laughs)
Scott: It was very strange because, as you just said, we were all in bands that toured and played lots of shows and were on decent labels that treated us good and uh, you know, when we got together we knew that there would be a little bit of a tension. We seriously played seven shows...five, six, seven shows: one was in Chicago, the next day was the first Krazy Fest [in Louisville, KY] and Revelation was there. We had come home on a Monday and we had a call from Victory, Revelation and Equal Vision all in one week. So it was kinda like, weird but in a real good way. It's a lot of pressure. We had offers to do seven inches before we had even played a show. We're like, "Fuck, we don't wanna do that, we wanna put out a demo." Once we got those offers we had a pick of what we thought would be best for us and the reason we went with Victory was because me and Scott [guitar] we're good friends with Tony [head of Victory] before, so you know, and another reason was because musically we fit best on Victory as opposed to Revelation and Equal Vision. But I've got nothing against those other labels. We were fuckin' flattered out of our minds, it was fuckin' awesome. But, knowing Tony on a personal level and you know, like All Out War is my favorite band. (laughs)
Mike: Any closing comments?
Scott: Buy the new Reach The Sky record, 'cause it's awesome. Just, I dunno, take care of each other and stuff like that [makes that weird noise again]

This interview was done by Mike Luck and Garrett Glasseater outside of Twister's in Richmond on October 18th, 1999. Group photo by Danielle Dombrowski. Live photos by Christina Dong. www.autonomatic.com

"Demo" - Self Released
"Only the Strong 1999" comp CD - Victory Records
"Six Month Face" limited 7" - Victory Records
"The Death of Your Perfect World" CD - Victory
Records

split 7" with Reach the Sky - Indecision Records