hi go it alone ! can you introduce yourself (age, occupation in the band, jobs, hobbies,...) ? and when did you start playing in go it alone ?

Mark: My name is Mark, I'm 21 years old, I yell into the microphone and write the music/lyrics. I am not employed right at the moment. I try to work as little as possible as I have more important things to do with my life. I actually just recently quit a job to concentrate on Go It Alone. My hobbies include skateboarding, tattoos, travelling, reading, and hanging out with my friends.

Norm: 23, bike courier, bass player, hobbies include reading, working hard to become vancouver's most hated, riding my bike, writing a zine that'll probably never come out, and hanging at Joe's cafe. I joined GIA in January/february(?) 2003

Lucas- I'm 22 and I play drums. I'm currently undergoing rehab for a 580 foot fall I took. When I get over this broken spine I'll be able to play drums and scuba dive again.

how, why and when did the “go it alone story” begun?

Lucas- Mark and I recorded a demo in the summer of 2002. Mark went travelling for a year. When he came back we decided to ressurect the project and make it a real band. So we got members recorded an ep and went on tour.

what does hardcore mean for you ?

Mark: To me hardcore is an intense form of music that should encourage progressive ideas and critical thinking, at the same time as it is an outlet for our anger and frustration.

Lucas: Hardcore is at the very least a paradise within the general pandemonium of the world. It should be a safe place for those who question the world around them and dont fit in, not everyone makes the cut. That's what it is without effort. With effort it can be a threat. It's loaded with potential.

Norm - First off, I feel punk/hardcore are still fundamentally the same thing, that being a place for people who don't fit in to hang out and develop (theoretically) without a lot of the bullshit prejudices and stone age mentalities that fuck with people in other social circles. I am fully aware that hardcore punk does not always reflect what it means to me, but there's always room for change and improvement. The fact that I felt like there was somewhere that I fit in when I was defined as a loser in high school meant a lot to me, and that acceptance is one of the ideals that I feel is most integral to hardcore punk.

what does old school mean for you ? (what’s the difference or is there a difference beetwen old and new school for you ?)

Mark: I don't care to differentiate much between "old school" and "new school". I guess they are convienent terms for describing a style of music, but aside from that I just listen to music that is powerful and speaks to me on an emotional level, regardless of what "school" it comes from.

Norm - a definition of genre of hardcore (or hip hop).

Lucas- Archaic terms. The meaning has been lost. Hardcore has been around too long now to simplify it to the level of two basic schools.

what are your favourite ever bands/songs?

Mark: Here we go... Unbroken, Black Flag, Chokehold, Battery, Count Me Out, Left For Dead, Outlast, Deathreat, Hardesty, His Hero Is Gone, Panic, Earth Crisis, Screeching Weasel, Blue Monday, Reserve 34, Section 8, Talk Is Poison, Cold Sweat, From Ashes Rise, etc, etc...

Norm - Big Boys, Suicide File, Bob Dylan, Billy Bragg, Rolling Stones, Black Flag

Lucas-Battery and Judge.

what are you listening to at the moment ?

Mark: The last thing I listened to was the Look Back and Laugh LP.

Norm- all the above, plus Fucked Up, Cursed, Avengers, pointed sticks, modern life is war, paperbacks, young Canadians, The Boys, GoGos, Elvis costello, and Blondie.

Lucas- Look Back And Laugh, Tragedy, Victims, From Ashes Rise, Of Faith And Fire, No Parade, Blue Monday.

what are the best bands you ever seen on stage ? (except go it alone, of course ;o) )and what are the bands you would like te see (past and present ) ?

Mark: It's hard to say. The first time I saw American Nightmare was really intense. Everone was so amped to see them. It was right at the time when they were really exploding and people were so excited that they were moshing before the band even played a note. The band was still tune-ing and getting ready to play and the crowd was already going nuts. At that time AN illicited an almost fanatical response in a lot of people.

Norm - Modern life is war were kickass. So were the paperbacks. I think reunions are cheesy and little more than an opportunity for has-beens to stroke their egos and make a little cash, but I would have liked to have been around to see Bob Dylan in the Blood on the tracks era, or Avengers in their early days.

Lucas- Cursed, early AN, Modern Life Is War, Battery. I would have liked to have seen Judge.

what do you think about violent dancing ? do you practice it ?

Mark: I guess you could say I practice violent dancing in that I love moshing and stagediving, but I always try to keep an eye out for others.

Norm- I think dancing violent in the pit is fine. If someone goes to dance and gets a punch to the face, that's fine, because that's what happens in the pit, Extraneous circumstances(13 year olds, old folks who don't know what's up in the pit) withstanding. People who purposely hit people on the fringes of the pit, or use violent dancing to kick the shit out of someone, or get a cheap shot in on someone deserve to have their balls cut off using rusty nail clippers. no excuse for that.

Lucas- Hardcore dancing is violent because hardcore music is violent. If this upsets a person then they shouldn't be at a hardcore show. Not everyone belongs here, it's not for everybody. Keep an eye out and dont let people intentionally harm others by using dancing as a sly way to get in cheap shots. That shouldn't be tolerated. If someone falls pick em up, and watch out for people who may not understand the way things work. Let them know so they dont get themselves in a situation where they may be hurt.

(a dumb question...)which “moshing school “ did you do ? new york style or californian style ? ( sorry for the question! Think about the “sick of it all step down” video clip )

Mark: Hahaha, I don't even know. I just wig out.

Norm - old man "stand on the side of the pit" school. or circle pitting.

Lucas- That SOIA video dancing is goofy and dated. As of late West Coast moshing blows East Coast style away what with the rash of lazy skank/gettin low infecting various scenes. I practice crowd busters and floor punching because I'm not coordinated enough to do anything else.

what are your lyrics about ? and mostly the songs from your ep ?

Mark: Well, a lot of the lyrics are about personal struggles that I've experienced. Just the strains of growing up and watching everything change around you, no matter how much you want things to stay the same. However, some of the lyrics have a more topical slant to them. "The Silence" is about eating disorders and how helpless you can feel when someone that you care about is basically wasting away right in front of you eyes. We live in a sick society that pushes a very skewed version of "beauty" upon both women and men. If you take a look at all the adverising, fashion magazines, hollywood movies, etc. that we are bombarded with it is no wonder why so many people have body image issues.

"The Best Of You" is about prostitution. I don't have any personal experience in that subject so it is simply the view of an outsider. But I live in a neighborhood were prostitution takes place so I see it all the time and therefore I think about it fairly often. I have also known a couple people who's lives ended up leading them in that direction and that is what the song is about. It really bothers me that people involved in the sex trade have been demonized to the point of being beyond our compassion and empathy. Not to mention the police and courts here in Canada offer them virtually no protection against the risks of their proffesion (rape, abuse, even murder). For example, here in Vancouver there was a serial killer on the loose for over two decades who has murdered at least 20 sex workers. He was finaly arrested about a year ago, but the police ignored evidence linking him to the crimes for years and years allowing him to continue killing people that our system has deemed "expendable". It is a very complicated subject. That song is not a moral standpoint on the subject of prostitution, it simply describes my empathy towards people I have known who found themselves trapped in what I can only imagine to be (at times) a horific situation. I highly reccomend reading the book "Runaway" by Evelyn Lau if you are at all interested in prostitution here in Vancouver.

who did the design work for the “vancouver gold “ release? and who took the very nice pictures?

Mark: Scott Magrath who runs Takeover Records put together the layout. Our friend Sara Colliss took the photographs.

(another dumb question...)is there really gold in vancouver ?

Norm - Weed reference. ironic.

what about hardcore fashion ? have you ever seen the site “hardcore fashion” (http://www.morethanfashion.net) ?

Mark: I like to look a certain way, but it is important to recognize that in the grand scheme of things fashion means absolutely nothing.

Norm - hot topic sucks, No.

Lucas-Look how you have to look, but if you spend more than a couple seconds thinking about what you're gonna wear you need to step back and re-assess things.

new balence or old school vans ?

Mark: Old school vans from the dumpster.

Norm - lake dh300 downhill bike shoes

Lucas-Rowleys that Mark pulls from the dumpster, but turn out to be to big for him.

positive youth crew ala “youth of today”shirt or emo black ala “modern life is war” shirt ?

Norm - self-silkscreened black flag shirt

Lucas- I didn't know they were to be worn exclusively.

what does these words/expressions mean to you ?

--new school

Norm - metal infused h/c

Lucas-An archaic term devoid of meaning.

--unity

Mark: To a certain extent. No need to be united with idiots.

Lucas- A nice idea, but the word has become perverted and abused. No large group of people can exist in unified harmony. The word is now just used to perpetuate gang mentality and cliques.

Norm - a bullshit claim people use to keep the peace, or smooth things over. Things would be far better if people solved their problems and united on people's strength of character instead of petty things like genres of music and type of dress.

--politics

Mark: Have an important place in hardcore.

Norm - a vital part of punk rock, yet dumbed down and turned into nothing more than ridiculous slogans far too often.

Lucas- They said it.

--emo

Mark: I like some old emo: Embrace, Rites of Spring.

Norm - all good music summons some type of emotion. As a description of music, it's about as useful as the term "alternative".

Lucas- The term makes me cringe. Again it's one of those words that's dated and played out. Some music like the first Ebullition stuff, Indian Summer,or Boys Life was good and that was often termed emo (but I don't classify it under that awful word). But as a term...stop using it, kick it to the curb.

what will be the future for go it alone ? (records, gigs,...)have we got a chance to see you a day in europe ?

Norm - One day at a time. I'd love to tour europe, Japan, Oceania, and everywhere I've never been. Records will come out, shows will be played.

Lucas- We have to wait for my my spine, pelvis, neck, arm, ribs etc to heal. Then we'll be back on track and you'll have to wait and see.

free speech (message, thanks, ...

Mark: Thank you for the interview. As usual I would like to give shouts out to all the hardcore kids who still recognize that veganism is a necessary lifestyle choice, and are involved in any way in the animal liberation movement.

Norm - free speech rules. thanks a lot.

Lucas- Thankyou for the interview. Question the world around dont simply exist. Rember that Straight Edge is the ultimate rebelion and eating animals is wrong. Don't say faggot, it makes you sound like a fool.