Band: SAWD OFF NJ
From: (you guessed it)
Their formation story:
(Nick Hertzberg, all instruments): "SAWD OFF NJ is (currently) a duo composed of myself and Billy Applegate (vocals/lyrics). We ran in similar circles across the New Jersey punk and hardcore scene for years and finally became friends in 2016/2017. We played in some bands together and then started a record label, Wet Cassettes. The goal was to release small DIY batches of 'Weird Dirty Music for Weird Dirty People. Five years and 47 releases later, we have our hardest album to date: SAWD OFF NJ.
"We have been fortunate to release bands from across the world, and tons of our own material in the past few years. Our goal now is to think of a band we would like to materialize together and then see it through for at least a demo. If it becomes something more significant, given our time constraints and other commitments, cool. If not, we got to create something new together that we love."
Their sound in their own words:
"Groovy yet simple heavy music built to inspire movement. When recording the instruments, I improvised on drums for hours and then stitched things that made sense together—adding guitars to compliment the rhythm. Of course, I focused on big chugs and breaks, but I also wanted to add some life and off-kilterness in the beats you might hear in hip-hop, an influence in beatdown/tough guy music that often goes overlooked.
"Vocally, Billy channeled many of his struggles growing up and paired it with some serious smack talk. He also didn't think the snare sounded enough like me hitting a trash can, hence what you hear there. Is the whole project over the top to be satire or a critique on the genre itself? That's for the listeners to decide."
Latest release info:
"Our debut self-titled album came out on super-limited cassette and digitally, for free, on September 22nd from Wet Cassettes. We hand-stamped the tape labels with a brick pattern because it's gotta look hard as hell. It's only three songs, so it goes by fast, but we plan on potentially working on more soon.
"As mentioned above, the whole thing was written on drums and then guitar, with Billy and friends (including Billy's wife) adding vocals after the fact. I recorded, mixed, and mastered the album at my home studio and did the artwork too."
Future plans:
"We want to get the album out and into as many ears as possible and potentially work on new material shortly. We played with the idea of making this a live project, but it would have to be super-sparse, which we know can be a turn-off for some people.
"We're both in our mid-30s and are married, and I'm expecting my first child shortly—so time is fleeting. If we found the right two people to help us bring this live now and then- we would definitely pursue that."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"While we both don't get out to as many local shows as we would like anymore, when we do, it's usually for leftfield punk stuff in basements or small bars instead of straight up hardcore shows. With that said, here are a few bands we have seen or listened to from the NJ/PA scene that you should check out:
Phantom (Bandcamp): I saw them play the infamous 'GEL at Sonic drive-thru' show in New Jersey and was taken by their frantic, tight performance.
Ground (Bandcamp): These guys rule and are hard as fuck.
Primal Rat Screw (Bandcamp): Younger weirdos playing circus/jazz/punk with corpse paint. Chef's kiss."
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Tagged: sawd off nj
