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Without Peace: New Jersey Musician Fleshes Out Solo Project Into Full-On Hardcore Band

Photo: Lenny Zimkus

Rupa Zimkus last appeared on No Echo through an introductory feature on his former band, Reaching Out, back in late 2020. Fast-forward to this past November, I noticed that the young guitarist had started a new project called Without Peace, and now that the holiday madness is out of the way, I finally found some time to connect with Rupa to get the story behind the move.

"So, when I started Without Peace, I had just recently left Reaching Out and was still wanting to do a band," he told me via email. "After graduating high school, my only real responsibility was work so I ended up just writing songs. I ended up writing a whole other demo then rewriting it just because I thought I could’ve done a lot better. But once the songs were done I decided I wanted to give singing a chance just because I thought it would be cool, and if I sounded bad oh well. 

Rupa continued to break down Without Peace's demo for me: "For the sound of Without Peace, I’d say it’s just fast hardcore with good dance parts. As for influences, I had been listening to a lot of The Rival Mob, Blind Justice, and Backtrack, just to name some bands. I had just wanted to make music that’s fast and makes you want to dance."

While Rupa handled guitar, bass, and vocal duties on the recording, he called on friends from the East Coast hardcore scene for some help.

"I had gone to Chris Ross to record in his basement and I got Michael Kingshott (Floorpunch, Charge, Nowhere Roads) on drums. He’s going to keep playing with the band. We had also gotten three other guys to join: Dylan, Sam, and Tyler."

Photo: Lenny Zimkus

With a lineup fleshed out, Without Peace seems to be on the right path.

"Right now, the plan is just to play as many shows as possible and continue to improve my songwriting for new music for either an EP or LP, whatever comes first, really. Eventually tapes will come out for the demo, hopefully in February or March, I believe."

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Tagged: reaching out, without peace