"We just wanted to make a band that continues in the tradition of the great Boston straight edge bands that have come before us without sounding like a carbon copy of any of them," says Vantage Point guitarist Doug.
Like the music he's part of, the guitarist is straight-up and ecomonic in his choice of words, something I can definitely appreciate. "Vantage Point formed in late 2016. Sean (drums), Russell (vocals), and myself were all in a band together and when we lost a member, I switched from bass to guitar and we got Cody to play bass for us. The old band had lost steam and we felt it would be best to start fresh. Recently we became a 5-piece by adding Owen on bass and moved Cody to guitar. Our first gig with his lineup is the tour kick off." Doug is refering to an East Coast run they're starting today (Sept. 21).
As you can hear on the band's 2018 eponymous EP above, Vantage Point's sound brings to mind '90s hardcore. "We try to take influence from bands like In My Eyes, Ten Yard Fight, Bane, Carry On, Burn, Judge, and Chain of Strength, as well as a ton stuff both in that world and totally outside of it. Everyone in the lineup has very different musical tastes and preferences, so the fact that we are even capable of making a band that we all can agree on the sound is impressive."
Like many of their counterparts in the current hardcore movement, the dudes from Vantage Point aren't content playing in just one band. "I’m pretty sure Sean plays drums for pretty much every band that exists at this point [laughs]. He plays drums in Antagonize, Jinx (with Cody on guitar), and a brand-new band that’s releasing a demo very soon called Soldier of God (with myself on guitar). He also plays bass for Bare Bodies with (Cody on guitar and vocals as well). Cody used to play in Caught in a Crowd and Violence to Fade, and I used to play in Take Control." Damn, man!
Boston has such a rich history of hardcore bands, so I get Doug to chime in on his thoughts on the scene's current state. "Right now, I think the scene in Boston is on an upswing. When we started, it was a really weird time. A lot of bands had broken up or just stopped playing and a lot of people either moved away or stopped going to shows. Since then, I’ve noticed the number of kids coming out increase at a pretty steady pace and I’ve seen more and more new faces at every gig.
"We’ve been working with a bunch of people in Boston to make the scene a more approachable and welcoming place to encourage more younger kids to come out and get involved. I think we’re seeing that pay off and hope it continues."
Who are some bands from there we should check out? "As for who to check out locally, we chose the bands for our tour kick off show purposely to kind of showcase some of our favorite bands from New England. The new Restraining Order 7” is awesome and that band bring the best energy live. Pummel is one of the other bands in Boston who are really actively working on making the scene a better place and putting BHC back on the map! Anxious are a group of really young and talented kids from Connecticut who are grinding as hard as they can just because they love hardcore and want to make music, what’s cooler than that?
"Beyond our immediate area, I’d say you have to check out our friends in Rule Them All, One Step Closer, and Fixation. We’ve played with those three bands a lot and I think they deserve more attention."
"When can we expect a Vantage Point," you ask? I got you covered: "Right now, we’re demoing out 4 new songs that we’re going to be using for another 7”. The 7” we have out on Straight & Alert is actually a compilation of our previously released demo tape and promo tape. Since those came out, we have grown a lot as a band and we want to be able to put out something that was intended to be a single release and shows where we’re at now."
Their East Coast run aside, what's up with a proper US run? "As far as touring goes, we’d love to hit the West Coast at some point but nothing has been planned as of right now. In general, we’d like tour as much as our schedules will allow between work and school. We are playing in Ottawa in November at Streets Ahead Fest and we’ll be doing a few shows surrounding that. We have a few more things coming up but a lot of that info isn’t publically available at the moment so you’ll just have to keep an eye out for more info!"
Tagged: vantage point
