There are some bands that I just click with after the first listen, and REMEMBERING NEVER is one of them. Loud, booming, chaotic, cathartic, and downright mean-spirited, this band toils with your emotions and twists them like brittle wood falling off a tree. In order to truely get the feeling of this band, pick up a copy of “She Looks So Good In Red” and listen to it alone, around 3:30am, with the lights out and the shades closed. After you declaw yourself from gripping onto the ceiling fan, feel free to take a cold shower. This interivew was conducted in April 25th over IM with vocalist Mean Pete – drummer Danny was also hanging around the computer.

pastepunk: I’m sitting here right now, listening to your brand new disc, “She Looks So Good In Red,” and I can’t help but wonder how did something so heavy and fast come out with such a controlled sound – how long did the album take to make? What was recording these songs like?

Pete: We took two separate sessions – the guy who recorded it (Jeremy Staska) didn’t make us a priority. We were cut off to make time for other things to fit his schedule. All he did was smoke weed and make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. All in all, we rushed ourselves because our singer just quit the band so we only had a few months to rewrite lyrics and teach guitar parts, and basically start over in a way. It was pretty much as close to hell as it could get.

pastepunk: Yikes! would that help explain the progression in songwriting to less choppy parts, and not so many haphazard timing changes?

Pete: Not really. I wrote almost the whole album when I played guitar for the band. Once I started singing, the songs were being played differently so obviously the style would change a little. We are just now starting to write together. It’s coming along better than ever.

pastepunk: You also sing for UNTIL THE END – are both bands part time acts? Will one see more prominence in touring over the other? Are any of the other members of the band currently involved in other musical acts?

Pete: REMEMBERING NEVER is the band where my “heart and soul” go into. I have total freedom to do whatever I want. All my bad days are being bled into this band, whereas with UNTIL THE END, I have to maintain a certain focus. As far as touring goes, it’s really hard to say, but we plan on touring a bit for the record as soon as possible. No one is in any other bands except me. Our new bass player was in another band but they broke up 2 days ago.

pastepunk: Yeah, I think it’s definitely clear that your “heart and soul” go into this band with any read of the lyrics. How much of the personal distraught, pain, torture, and frustration that comes out of each song is fueled by your own personal experiences?

Pete: Lyrically, Danny (dummer) wrote two songs that were on the album and everyone came together for “Big Jim’s Mistake,” for obvious reasons. Aside from that, it’s all me. It’s really different when everyone puts effort into the lyrics, because you feel a certain closeness with them for sharing that kind of emotion, whereas when Justin sang, it was all about him and he wasn’t really open for that kind of thing.

pastepunk: I think the line, “this charade is getting older than suicide attempts” is really poignant – is there any background to the line that you’d like to share?

Pete: My ex-girlfriend was really fucking crazy and she’d blow everything out of proportion and start cutting herself. That was kind of like a “low-blow” to her, because it is a bit of a “delicate” subject.

pastepunk: Hmm…ok, no need to prod further, let’s shift gears. How and when did Carl from Ferret get interested in the band? Was it before or after the EP on One Day Savior? You guys seem to really fit in well with the Ferret family.

Pete: Why? Because we have that typical singing screaming thing going on……..?

pastepunk: (In a slightly defensive moment) More than that, I think Ferret bands are often a step ahead in combining the huge sound of intensity with such unbridled, open emotion…

Pete: Just kidding with you. Carl actually liked our MCD (“Suffocates My Words to you”) but didn’t have time to put it out because BLOOD HAS BEEN SHED, SKYCAMEFALLING, MARTYR AD, etc. were all coming out at that same time. He was digging us the whole time though, haha.

pastepunk: That’s awesome – I was happy the MCD was out on One Day Savior because that is one of those labels that is still waiting to be discovered by a lot of hardcore kids and finally take off.

Pete: Yes, and Chris is a great guy. I wouldn’t have had anyone else do it.

pastepunk: Since you guys have somewhat long songs, and more than a few ridiculously fast parts, do you feel that at shows, you “wear the mosh” out of the kids? I know it feels like my stereo is going to explode to the percussion on “Feathers in Heaven.”

Pete: I don’t know how to answer that. The song writing is a simple formula; melodies and mosh parts. We just try to write what we think sounds good and is fun to play.

pastepunk: Does endurance come into play as a factor during your shows? Does the band go through any special preparations before hitting the stage?

Pete: I can only speak for myself, but I’m just now having fun while we play. I finally found “my stage-persona” and it’s just not caring. Someone is going to have fun at our show whether it’s me or the audience or both. Danny sleeps all day before the show because he is lazy. He gives his all when we play, so by the time we’re finished, he’s drained. The days we have a show he relaxes for 23 hours and endures actual activity for the 25 minutes that we play.

pastepunk: What’s something that has been playing in your stereo lately? Please name a few bands that you think need more attention…

Pete: ONE FIFTH, WHAT WISHES CAN’T MEND (both bands have brand new cds out), anything Mike Patton related, Elvis, CRADLE OF FILTH, N.W.A., HOLE, so on and so forth….and fucking SLAYER!!!

pastepunk: What’s something that you’d like to see eradicated out of hardcore? Are there times where you wish your music could exist without a vacuum of critics willing to voice their opinion (like myself)?

Pete: That’s a hard question. How do I answer that without sounding like a dickhead? I personally could do without all the old-school sounding bands. Hardcore has just changed so much, all that stuff has been done for years. It’s time to embrace the future and improve it. I could also do without all the comparisons to POISON THE WELL in every review for every band these days. I’m not knocking them at all, they are a great band and they are all nice kids but “critics” seem to think that this is the new standard for hardcore. There are alot of great fucking bands out now, but they get tagged with the comparisons so kids automatically think it’s a ripoff.

pastepunk: Ixnay on the PTW comparisons…got it. I’ll edit my review this evening, heh. Just kidding – you guys are much more chaotic. Final question, and then comments: When was the last time you felt happy about something?

Pete: When I went to Disney World with Danny in October. That was a long time ago. That was the only day I had no animosity for anyone (except for all the little asshole kids in front of me in line at “Pirates of the Carribean”).

pastepunk: Haha…that’s great. okay, the wrap up: any final comments? questions I should have asked?

Pete: I’m new at this so ask me in a few years…. but everyone should check out WHAT WISHES CAN’T MEND and ONE FIFTH, the crown jewels of “Floridacore.” Thanks for the interview – how much did Carl pay you? OK , Mr. T style: “stay in school, don’t do drugs and always use 1800 collect.”