Guts of The Ice - An Exploration of "Puck" Rock/Hockey-core #7: Light The Lamp Full Team Interview (The Witzard's LTL Q&A)
Not entirely unlike Wrestle/Wrassle Rap or Basketball Rap, there's, apparently, a whole sub-genre of hockey-themed Punk/Hardcore—oftentimes, referred to as "Puck" Rock or Hockey-core. Yes, I've been a die-hard fan of Punk/Hardcore for 15+ years and I, too, only first heard about Puck Rock within the last few weeks. Although, once I started diggin' around, I discovered about 10-15 bands at the forefront; this was, then, gradually narrowed down to 10 "front-line" bands, which will be chronicled here over the course of coming weeks. The "top-scoring" bands we selected include: Crippled Youth, SLAPSHOT, The Hanson Brothers/Nomeansno, Two Man Advantage, The Boils, D.O.A. THE ZAMBONIS, Pansy Division, The Hextalls, and THE RAMOMS' "Gritty Is A Punk" flexi-disc. We sent out a short 6-question interview form to all of the aforementioned bands, received some back, heard a few choice words, and still have yet to hear from a few more. We'll be running those interviews, as well as features, profiles, etc. in the coming weeks. EDITOR'S NOTE: be warned, while I'm a casual hockey fan, I DO NOT claim to be an "expert" on the sport, nor will I EVER claim to know "everything" about hockey-themed Punk/Hardcore. Now, let's just try to have some fun and learn more about the sub-genre together!
As described in there own words, Light The Lamp were "born into creation on the year of Don Cherry, 2018 in the shadow of the sweetest place on Earth... unleashed upon The Keystone State, drawn by the fury of The Greatest Inner-State Rivalry of all-time... Light The Lamp! This Goon Squad comes out swinging sticks and throwing hits from the ice to the rafters, from whence their debut EP, TILLY TIME, hangs triumphantly, like a championship banner of good ol' PA Puck Rock. Time for some dirty dangles, boys! We're going bar down in your town!" Light The Lamp's current line-up consists of Donny Brook (Chirping,) Eddie Crossczyk (Boarding,) Mark Wrecky (Charging,) Andhe Scores (Slashing/Chirping,) and Slewfoot Foose (Misconduct/Chirping.) Current and ex-members of Rightstart, Meet At Sundown, Demorats, Biff, and Social Class Dropout, Light The Lamp have actively been playing shows across The Tri-state Area spreading their unique brand of Puck Rock/Hockey Hardcore to the masses. Last week upon publication of our feature with Spag (Drunk Bastard) from Two Man Advantage, @LightTheLampPA enthusiastically shared one of the Tweets from our Guts of The Ice THREAD, exclaiming, "For all things Puck F**king Rock, check this out!" We soon got to chatting up all things Puck Rock with Light The Lamp drummer Ed. Now, we're back this week with our first full-band interview in our ongoing Guts of The Ice series. Just last night, Light The Lamp premiered their Official Quarantine Video for "Bring Back The Whale" from their debut EP, TILLY TIME.
Sincerely,
Matt "The Witzard" Horowitz
Puck Rock/Hardcore Purveyor
01. How did you first get into both hockey and Punk/Hardcore music?
Andhe Scores: My brother got me into both hockey and Punk Rock at a young age; mid-80's.
Slewfoot Foose: First thing I remember watching was The Miracle On Ice. My parents were yelling and cheering. I didn't understand, at the time, what a big deal it was. My mom tried to explain [a] bit; I still didn't understand the magnitude, until years later. My first exposure to Punk was Freshman year of high school, 1989. An acquaintance, soon-to-be-friend, was a Ramones fanatic. He kept talking about The Ramones, so that weekend, I went out and got a Ramones tape. From there, it was Misfits, [Dead Kennedys], Minor Threat, and The Descendents. It wasn't long, until I got introduced to SLAPSHOT. They were "Hardcore" for me. That East Coast RAW Hardcore. And the album was Sudden Death Overtime. Now, hockey and music were united for me.
Donny Brook: My dad was a hockey fan and I would watch with him. I went to see a Pens/Caps [Penguins/Capitals] game when I was 8 or 9-years-old and got to see Lemieux & Jagr do their thing. Punk & Hardcore came from hanging out with friends in high school and going to see their bands play. I was a Metalhead, but there [were] no other Metalheads to speak of at my school, so the Punk kids were the only ones I could get the same sort of speed and intensity out of [at] a live show.
Mark Wrecky: I'm originally from Western PA and I remember the buzz around The Penguins winning the back-to-back Cups in '91 and '92. However, it was a decade later, I really got into hockey. The guitar player (R.I.P. Golden Dave) in my previous band is a huge hockey fan, so that got me into the sport for good. I remember watching Marc Andre Fleury make that incredible save in Game 7 to win The Stanley Cup in 2009. As for Hardcore & Punk music, my two cousins, one of which, also, got me into playing bass, turned me onto this stuff in the mid-late 90's with classic stuff, like The Dead Kennedys, Misfits, and Black Flag.
Eddie Crossczyk: I got into hockey in the early 90's. I had family in Philly that we'd visit all the time and my uncle is a huge Flyers fan, so, naturally, that rubbed off on me. I remember cutting out newspaper clippings when they'd win a game and [keeping] them. I got into Punk/Hardcore when I was 13 and started going to local shows. Both Andy [Andhe] & Foose were in bands I grew up going to see, so it's cool as Hell to be playing with them.
02. What made you decide to combine hockey and Punk/Hardcore stylings through music?
Scores: It was Foose & Ed's idea about doing the band. I just motivated them.
Brook: It was their idea, mostly. I thought it sounded fun and, besides, SLAPSHOT had done similar sh*t decades before.
Wrecky: Ed [Eddie] & Andy [Andhe] lured me into this band as a "trick." The music was just too good to ignore. The fact that they were pairing these riffs up with hockey lyrics seemed like a great gimmick. It certainly got my attention. Why do another generic Punk/Hardcore/Metal band, when you can play Punk & Metal songs about hockey!?
Crossczyk: Foose hit me up and asked if I'd be down to jam with him and Andy. Since I looked up to those guys from my younger days of seeing them in bands at shows, I said "absolutely." I think, it was mostly Foose's idea to combine the two. I wasn't sure how we'd pull it off, but I feel like it's the perfect match. Tough f**king Hardcore Punk with Metal elements thrown in? Of course, the lyrics should be about hockey!
03. For fans new to the "Puck" Rock/Hardcore sub-genre, which release(s) from throughout your discography would you recommend starting out with?
Scores: Check out TILLY TIME.
Brook: We've only got the one... so, that narrows it down.
Wrecky: TILLY TIME is our debut EP, the first of, hopefully, several more to come. It was a lot of fun to record, so that's, obviously, the place to start. Hopefully, the fun we had tracking the album comes across in the recording.
Crossczyk: TILLY TIME is all we've put out, so far, but we've got several new originals that are almost finished right now with more on the way. Once we've got them all down... full-length? Another EP just for the new ones? Only time will tell.
04. Aside from your own band's music, what other hockey-themed groups, releases, singles, etc. would you recommend, as well?
Scores: Listen to SLAPSHOT, Sick of It All, Madball, Misfits, and Iron Maiden.
Foose: Other bands... always SLAPSHOT, Two Man Advantage, Hanson Brothers, and HEXTALLS. I do like the CHIXDIGGIT! tune, "Cheevers" [otherwise, known as "(I Feel Like) (Gerry) Cheevers (Stitch Marks On My Heart.)"]
Brook: SLAPSHOT, for sure.
Wrecky: To my knowledge, there aren't a ton of hockey-themed bands around. Hockey's not a huge sport, compared to the other pro sports, so it makes sense. But the only other hockey-themed band I'm aware of is THE ZAMBONIS.
Crossczyk: I never even knew this genre was even a thing, until I heard The Boils' [The Orange & The Black] EP. Then, I found THE HEXTALLS & SLAPSHOT.
05. If still active, what are the future plans for your band? If currently inactive, do you have any immediate plans for any special re-issues or a proper reunion/comeback?
Scores: We plan on taking over the world.
Brook: Survive The 'rona, write more stuff, and play more shows.
Wrecky: This whole Coronavirus thing has us locked down right now, but we're still active working on behind-the-scenes stuff. We're working on a special Quarantine video; as we speak, of all us playing along to our TILLY TIME EP. So, we're trying to stay active on social media, even though we haven't seen each other in a few weeks. As soon as the world is healthy again, we'll be back to jamming and writing and booking more shows. Keep an eye out of our social media for updates!
Crossczyk: Once this f**king Quarantine is lifted? Get back to writing new songs, polish up the ones we've been working on, and get back to playing shows.
06. So, what's the significance/story behind your nicknames, Donny Brook, Eddie Crossczyk, Mark Wrecky, Andhe Scores & Slewfoot Foose, as well as the title of your debut EP title, TILLY TIME?
Scores: I like when the announcer yells "...and he scores!"
Foose: Because of Marchand.
Brook: "Donnybrook" is a brawl; a term used often in hockey.
Wrecky: "Mark Wrecky" was brilliantly created for me from our drummer, Ed [Eddie]. My first name is Mark and as a Pens fan, Ed found the parallel between that and Pens' player (now-Assistant Coach) Mark Recchi. So, it made a lot of sense and I love it. Thanks, Ed! As for "TILLY TIME," that came from Don. We had a couple ideas for the name we were throwing around and we landed on "TILLY TIME," which is slang for a "hockey fight." Gotta keep the hockey theme going!
Crossczyk: It's a play on Eddie Olczyk blended with "cross-check." I think, it's moderately clever, but stupid, at the same time, since I don't, actually, give a sh*t about Eddie O. But, hey, it works. As for the EP title: initially, we were thinking "Stick, Gloves, Shirt," which is a line from The Mighty Ducks. I, also, put that line in our song "2 Minutes," following another Ducks quote, "take the fall, act hurt, get indignant." But, then, Don [Donny] said, "what about "TILLY TIME?'" and MOST of us were sold on it. It, literally, came down to a vote. I think, it was 3-2 in favor of "TILLY TIME." I'm happy with it.
