The Brooklyn Blast Furnace

Just keeping you up to date with the podcast and answering a couple questions that were sent in. Thanks for the continued support as always! New full episode next Monday(February 11th). Respect.

Anthony "Civ" Civorelli from the "Gorilla Biscuits" and "Civ" along with Jules Massee from "Side By Side" and "Alone In A Crowd" make their podcast debut for a very important reason. "Civ" invited me to his home in New York City to sit down and discuss a benefit show happening on Saturday, February 16th at The First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia for their long time friend Howard "Howie" Glen Wallen, guitarist for "Alone In A Crowd". Howie needs your help. Howie was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma: a slow growing tumor originating off of the auditory nerve between his inner ear and his brain. The tumor affected his balance and ability to walk and caused right side functional deficits. In May 2017, he underwent a 6.5 hour surgery that was supposed to have him back up and running in a month. The surgery, which left him deaf in his right ear, did not remove all of the tumor… and it is growing back. He now suffers from chronic debilitating headaches, loss of balance, cognitive, memory and speech deficits, a tremor in his right arm and hand, vision problems, facial numbness, extreme fatigue, anxiety and, understandably, depression. With these disabilities he cannot work, and that has hit his family very hard. And, as the tumor grows, Howie’s symptoms will only get worse. If left unchecked, Howie’s condition is fatal. So, Howie must have another surgery, a 10 hour surgery, followed by radiation treatment. We can only hope that after this he will improve… but there is no guarantee. Let’s let Howie and his family know that they are not alone during this ordeal. After 30 years, "Alone In A Crowd" is getting back together again to play a one-time benefit show for him. We hope you will show your support and come. If you can’t, or if it is now sold out, you can still donate to the fundraiser we have set up for him. GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/aiac-benefit-for-howie PayPal Donations: paypal.me/healthyhoward On a much lighter note, they discuss several stories about being on the road with the "Gorilla Biscuits", "Judge", "Side By Side", "Youth Of Today" and a bunch of other crazy stories. I hope you enjoy this... and please donate anything if you can. Every cent matters. Respect.

Mike Ferraro... Known to most as "Mike Judge". Legendary singer for New York Hardcore band "JUDGE". I met up with him at a diner on Montville, New Jersey. I met him very briefly a couple times, just a quick, "What's up man, great show" type of thing. Shortly after we sat down and ordered coffee, we started talking; it felt like I had known him for a long time. There were a ton of rumors, speculation and misconceptions about him for literally decades. He addresses, dispels and clears up all of them. He speaks on the formation and break up of the band as well as their reunion show at the Black N' Blue Bowl in 2013 at Webster Hall in New York City. And as many wanted me to ask him, which there was no need to because he brings up the topic of new music and the future of the band. It was an absolute honor to sit down with this man. I hope you enjoy this. Respect.

David Howard Thornton is an actor and voice over born in Huntsville, Alabama. He sits down with me over a couple cups of coffee and discusses his journey from the south to Astoria, Queens. He is best known (for now) as the brutal killer, "Art the Clown" in the movie "Terrifier" directed by Damien Leone. It is currently trending on Netflix. He talks about making the film, the things that influenced his body language in the film along with a bit of a deeper viewpoint into the killer clown. This was definitely fun and different to do. I hope you enjoy this one. Art the Clown and the movie Terrifier Rule!

From the Slums of Shaolin... The Staten Island Landfill Kings... ENRAGE! Singer and co-founder of one of the longest running Staten Island Hardcore bands, Jeff Altieri aka Jeff Enrage is my guest. We met up at the King's Arms Diner on the North Shore of Staten Italy to talk about a couple two, three things or so. From the old days of L'Amour's, Thrash Metal, Hardcore, to the formation of the band, to Jeff possibly getting jumped by someone's husband who was on "Mob Wives", to wrestling... this was a really fun and laid back episode to do. Jeff's is one of the good guys and sings for an awesome band. I hope you enjoy this. Respect.

PLEASE SHARE THIS AND SPREAD THE WORD The Following is the description from the Facebook Event Page. Included are all links to help if you can. Everything and anything is appreciated. Respect. *A BENEFIT FOR HOWIE* Howard (“Howie”) Wallen needs your help. He would not ask for himself, so we are doing it for him. Howie played guitar in Alone In A Crowd 30 years ago. He is now a macrobiotic chef, with a wife and a teenage daughter. In the spring of 2017, Howie was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma: a slow growing tumor originating off of the auditory nerve between his inner ear and his brain. The tumor affected his balance and ability to walk and caused right side functional deficits. In May 2017, he underwent a 6.5 hour surgery that was supposed to have him back up and running in a month… The surgery, which left him deaf in his right ear, did not remove all of the tumor… and it is growing back. Howie now suffers from chronic debilitating headaches; loss of balance; cognitive, memory and speech deficits; a tremor in his right arm and hand; vision problems; facial numbness; extreme fatigue, anxiety and, understandably, depression. With these disabilities he cannot work, and that has hit his family very hard. And, as the tumor grows, Howie’s symptoms will only get worse. If left unchecked, Howie’s condition is fatal. So, Howie must have another surgery, a 10 hour surgery, followed by radiation treatment. We can only hope that after this he will improve… but there is no guarantee. Let’s let Howie and his family know that they are not alone during this ordeal. After 30 years, Alone In A Crowd is getting back together again to play a one-time benefit show for him. We hope you will show your support and come. If you can’t, you can still donate to the fundraiser we have set up for him. https://www.gofundme.com/aiac-benefit-for-howie We've had a lot of requests to donate through PayPal. That is not available on this platform but if you want to donate through PayPal, you can do so through: paypal.me/healthyhoward Thank you to Scott Vogel of Terror for allowing me to use the song "Stick Tight" at the end of this episode. Respect.

"Grym Galaxy"... a Hip-Hop group born out of the Slums Of Shaolin... Staten Island, New York is made up of Billy Ballantine and Nick Jackelson. Billy invited me to his house on Staten Island to talk about a few things. We cover their early musical influences, the rare opportunity to be booked on both Hip Hop and Hardcore shows, we talk rap, metal, hardcore, wrestling and a bunch of other things. There's mention of Vinnie Paz and how Nick got the opportunity to create a beat for the song "Hashem on a Pentagram" featuring Ill Bill and Goretex of NonPhixion/Heavy Metal Kings/La Coka Nostra that is used on Vinnie's newest solo record "The Pain Collector" on Enemy Soil Records. A couple of down to earth, nice guys that I enjoyed speaking to. Hope you enjoy this. Respect.

Jimmy's daughter, 9 year old Alexa wanted to be "on the radio" again. She was a guest on Episode 19 and enjoyed herself. So I figured it was a good time to have her on once again for a little conversation. We talk Christmas, Sick Of It All, Done Deal, if Santa is real and animals, she also asked me a few questions. A light hearted little talk with my daughter just for fun and simply because she wanted to do it. I hope you enjoy my conversation with my kid. Hope you had a Happy New Year. Thanks for the support. Respect.

Legendary drummer Sammy Siegler! I met up with him at "Puffy's Tavern" in Tribeca, NYC... the place was packed so, we called an audible and went "Live from the Basement at Puffy's Tavern". Sammy has either recorded with, toured with or appeared on records with bands such as: Judge, Civ, Youth Of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, Rival Schools, Side By Side, World Be Free, Youth Of Today, Limp Bizkit, Glassjaw, The Movie Life, Head Automatica, Project X, Patti Smith and several more!!! His resume is untouchable. He was in town for just a few days and took time out to talk to me, even if the recorder was balancing on a barstool while we stood around it, we made it happen!

Known for being a prominent member in bands such as Quicksand, Gorilla Biscuits, Youth Of Today, Rival Schools, Dead Heavens, Vanishing Life, Moondog and several more... Walter Schreifels is a legend amongst the New York Hardcore scene and beyond. I called up former co-host, Johnny Candiria in for this for a special cameo appearance. We met up with Walter in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for an in depth discussion about the history of his music. Quicksand's debut record "Slip" is one of my all time favorite albums (Johnny as well) so there's a lot of talk surrounding that record which changed the landscape of music as a whole. From the early days of Youth Of Today, up to what he's working on now... this was an awesome conversation for me personally. I hope you enjoy it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Schreifels

One of my best friends and brother... Ian Shafer. Old School Punk Rocker and World Class Tattoo Artist. Ian and I met under crazy circumstances in 2004 in a Therapeutic Community in Rhinebeck, New York. I mentioned him on Episodes 49 and 51 in my "Life & Times" series briefly. He definitely has a very unique life story. Some serious, some hysterical and some absolutely bat shit crazy and almost unbelievable. One of the most stand up guys I've ever known. I hope you enjoy this episode. Respect.

Dan Nastasi is a guitarist and a founding member of "Mucky Pup" and "Dog Eat Dog". He also created a solo project called "Nastasee" and is currently playing with "Leeway NYC". We discuss the forming of Mucky Pup and Dog Eat Dog and the history of the bands, touring with Biohazard and many other bands. He is a husband and a father of three and coaches football. A very busy and creative guy who is constantly busy with his many passions. This was a very easy discussion to have since there is so much history and it turns out we know a lot of the same people for a long time. One of my favorite episodes to date. I hope you enjoy this one. This episode ends with the newest song by "Leeway NYC" titled "I'm Your Pusher". Click the link below to check it out on YouTube. Thanks as always. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJGfAPoSPK4&start_radio=1&list=RDMMGJGfAPoSPK4

Wrapping up the 5-Part Series focusing on a handful of OG's in the New York Hardcore scene. Kids... here's a history lesson for you. I met up with Ralph Gebbia aka "Ralphie G." of NYHC pioneers "The Mob". Formed between 1979 and 1980, they were one of the original New York Hardcore bands with an incredible history. Playing legendary shows with the Bad Brains, Minor Threat, The Ramones just to name a few. We had an awesome conversation at a pizza joint on St. Mark's Place in New York City with a possible part 2 coming. Ralphie G. is a stand-up guy and without question an OG in this thing of ours called Hardcore. Hope you enjoy this. As always, you're support is appreciated.

The 4th in a 5-Part Series focusing on a handful of OG's in the New York Hardcore scene. Rob Kabula is a legendary bass player who played in "Agnostic Front", "Cause For Alarm", "Against the Grain" which later became (and currently active "Dead Blow Hammer". Rob has been around pretty much since the inception of the New York Hardcore scene on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. We linked up to talk about some old hardcore stories, how he became a member of these bands, sleeping in "Beer Vats" in San Francisco with "Cause for Alarm", squatting on the Lower East Side and living in "Apartment X" in the early 80's. Great guy. I hope you enjoy this. Respect.

The 3rd in a 5-Part Series focusing on a handful of OG's in the New York Hardcore scene. "Reagan Youth" guitarist, Paul Cripple joins me on this episode. Formed by Dave Insurgent and himself in 1981 on the Lower East Side of NYC, they are one of the original bands in the scene. We talk about the 80's, the formation of the band, anarchy, politics, drugs, and a host of other things while drinking coffee in the heart of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Paul is definitely a unique individual with a lot to say with no filter. Always fun speaking with him. Enjoy.