angryjew

…had the shows not been cancelled due to low ticket sales. Sucks…

You can read the entire interview I did with Armand Majdi of Sick of It All on Metal Israel …

Sick of It All are the godfathers of the New York hardcore (NYHC) scene. That should say enough about the attitude and determination that’s driven this band through 22 years of in-your-face hardcore punk rock mayhem. The NYHC scene was founded in the late 80s, spawning the roots of dozens of bands due to its close-knit, thriving sense of community.

Sick of It All is a prime antithesis to the standard one-hit-wonder formula of the music industry. Despite record sales deemed modest by Billboard standards, Sick of It All earns fans that stay loyal for decades. So, they make their living through touring and merchandise sales instead. And Sick of It All’s influence on acts enjoying more overtly commercial success such as Hatebreed, the Bouncing Souls and Sepultura, is acknowledged readily by the bands themselves.

Drummer Armand Majdi attributes the band’s underground, yet international success to several factors. “We’ve had the luck of having a combination of credibility (by giving our all at our shows and sticking to our guns on issues) and marketability (the dragon logo and being from New York,) which has given us the longevity we’ve enjoyed. We could have put on masks or costumes and pretended to be something we’re not, but we prefer to represent ourselves exactly as we are on stage as well as off. It’s a hard sell sometimes, because we’re regular guys, but it’s definitely more rewarding when people like the band for the reason that we do keep it real.”

They’ve toured almost everywhere in the world. Next week they will add Israel to their list on Tuesday - 17.6.08, at the Barby club in Tel Aviv (Kibutz Galuyot 52) and Wednesday - 18.6.08 at the City Hall club in Haifa (Shabtai Levi 7).

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