Wisdom In Chains - Rich Mancuso

First off, what is going on currently with WIC since you don't have any shows at the moment?rn

Well yeah, right now we have nothing booked. We had some weekends dates over the last few weekends, but we kept things open in the days before the Superbowl. We are just doing our thing, working, and very excited for the event this Saturday.

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To anyone not in the know, can you describe why the BNB Bowl is a big deal every year, and especially this year?rn

Well the Black and Blue Bowl is basically the Superbowl of Hardcore, The Superbowl being the supreme event in American sports, this is the supreme event for Hardcore and a yearly early summer ritual that's very important to fans of this sort of music all over the globe. The guys from New York really brought back to life an event that was nearly dead. The Superbowls of the past were historic, and then for one reason or another, there was a time when the Superbowls were just sub-par, or didn't even exist. So they really brought back the excitement that was around this event in early years. But for people who don't know, well there is this music called Hardcore, and this event is basically one of the most important holidays of the year for people who love Hardcore music.

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What does it mean to you to be a part of what Cuz Joe and Freddy put together this year for BNB Bowl? rn

For us, it means so much. We are so happy and excited to be part of this show, for a band like Wisdom in Chains, this is what's its all about. We have no bullshit gimmicks or wack-ass fantasies, we are just a Hardcore band, and the fact that these guys asked us to be part of a major event like this... Wow, we are just very appreciative, and we plan of doing our part to the fullest and bringing the good vibes with us to NYC.

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Are there any surprises for the WIC set, or anything special you guys are doing?rn

No surprises for us. We did have one surprise: We planned on doing a Yuppicide cover, but now they are playing, so they ruined our whole shit *laugh*.

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What are your most anticipated band sets to watch on Saturday? rn

That is a very hard question. Well we just did a tour in Europe last month, and we shared the stage with Skarhead a lot so we know that's gonna be a fun crazy set. I cant wait to see that. Also the most evil band doing shit right now, H8 Inc. from Detroit, that's gonna be dope. If you don't know what H8 Inc. is like, well, it's like some serious brutal early hardcore style shit, you gotta see it. H2O I cant wait for, especially since my girl will be with me, we both love them. Trapped Under Ice and Cruel Hand, that's a great set of bands to prove to everyone that there are great current bands in the scene. And another set of legendary acts, Madball and Cro-Mags!! Come on man, this is just a total package.rnrn

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You have a lot of dates coming up overseas soon, and you just a couple months ago were over there. Obviously in the states you have famous areas for shows like Philly, Boston, New York, LA.... What are the European \"wild spots\" for WIC shows?rn

Well, we love London, London is great for us. Then there's Berlin, that's the spot, great scene, so positive. We love Paris, but don't get to go there nearly enough. Tournai Belgium and Essen Germany. Europe just really has it going on right now, we love it there. And by the way, we never played LA, someone bring us out. Hit me on Myspace!

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When can the states expect some WIC touring action again?rnWell we do have some weekend runs coming up, and we did just confirm a little run with Sick of it All in the USA into Canada for September.

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In retrospect, are you happy with how the album Everything You Know came out? Have fans seemed to embrace the songs from it live? rn

Yeah, I dig the release. It has gotten the best reviews that we have ever gotten from any release so far, so we are pumped about that. We just wanted to make a cool, interesting full length hardcore release that was fun and easy to listen to. It's hard creating full lengths, but it's fun as well. I wish we did something different with the intro; we had a totally different idea for it, but when we couldn't do what we wanted we did that. I don't hate it, but that's one of the things I do wish where a little different. As far as live, so far so good, it seems there are a decent amount of songs on the new release that the kids enjoy live, so that's great.

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In hardcore, does music downloading hurt or help bands like yours?rn

Honestly I have no idea, we never made any money so far, and it seems nothing is changing. When it comes to live shows we are still selling CDs so that's good. I wish I did know an actual number to figures like that, like who has downloaded the albums, what albums, what songs, but I really don't know. It's a very hard to to be an actual touring band and try to make a living off this, and for us it doesn't even seem possible, so we do it simply because we love it. The problem is though, when we get home we have to put in twice the hours in order to prepare for our next tour.

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Do you guys enjoy putting together music videos like \"Back To The Ocean,\" or was that an experience that was said, done, and over with?rn

Well, I didn't really dig it, I felt really stupid to be honest with you, but after it was made and released I did see what effect the video had, and I realize now that it's helpful to have a video. Next time around I will appreciate the experience more and handle the video in the same way we write songs. I'm looking forward to doing another one.

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Have you been up to anything else musically lately? I assume you've started practicing for Mushmouth and Boxcutter.rn

Yeah, we have to get ready for another great event in mid June. It's called The East Coast Tsunami fest in PA. This is looking to be great! Wisdom is not playing, but two of my other bands are: Mushmouth and Boxcutter. Those two bands rarely play so all is forgotten with the long time that passes between shows for us, so I have to relearn everything. That's gonna be a great show: Sick of it All, Earth Crisis, H2O, All Out War... And it's in an outside park like setting.

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Finally, what are some bands kids NEED to check out?rn

To me, the band that is the shit right now..PRODUCT OF WASTE. No bullshit... Real Hardcore. I love that band.