Comedy x Hardcore: A Conversation with Gene Meyer (stand-up comedian, Bandit vocalist)

Part two of No Echo’s Comedy x Hardcore series I talk to comedian Gene Meyer from the grindcore band Bandit.

Gene is an active stand-up comedian, and his comedy and social media posts are often shared throughout the metal and hardcore communities. Bandit is also known for being an absolute wild time to watch live and recently got done playing shows with Wormrot and No/Más. 

Thanks to Gene for taking the time to talk about comedy and hardcore, and the two worlds colliding. 

Firstly, how long have you been doing Bandit, and how long have you been doing comedy? It seems to me I always know you for both. Which came first? 

I officially joined Bandit in spring of 2016 but had been performing with them on and off for roughly a year before that. I started doing stand-up at Emerson College in 2012.

Funny story: Emerson had six sketch comedy groups when I started going there and I tried out for all of them. I didn't get accepted into a single one, so I started my own with all the other kids who got rejected.

We initially called ourselves "Weekend Nachos" after the power violence band but after we posted a video of our first performance I got a personal email from their singer John Hoffman asking us to change our name, IT WAS THAT BAD!

What is more nerve racking to you playing a comedy show or a grindcore show? 

Definitely comedy, it’s so much harder. Bandit rarely has what I would consider a “bad show” (we did have a guy fall asleep in the front row when we played Nottingham, UK) but it doesn’t feel as personal since there’s a group of us up there and no matter what we are having fun.

Bombing a comedy show, which happens much more frequently, feels like you just went on a first date with 60 people and they all agreed that they hate you and your personality. It used to bother me for days but like anything you kind of just get used to it.

Are there any similarities between a night at a comedy club compared to playing a show with Bandit? Can you think of examples of some crossover energy? 

When I do comedy I try to bring metal/hardcore energy, I used to do a lot of screaming during my sets, which received mixed results. I like to think I’ve learned to hone the energy so that it’s more palpable to comedy audiences, but there are still times I eat shit and then just go nuts [laughs].

The similarity is that pre-show nervousness/excitement, pacing back and forth, hoping they will like me, hoping they are drunk enough to not get offended, etc.

Your social media presence is hilarious. I think the “You’re on a date with an extreme metalhead” reel really spoke to most of us music geeks. A lot of your content has to do with being in the extreme music scene and dealing with normal music fans. Is there a barrier to normal stand-up bar crowds and talk about extreme music in your act?

Oh yeah. I had to learn the hard way that the general public does not share my esoteric knowledge of grindcore and power violence and in a lot of ways I have to work to make it understandable to a general audience.

That’s why in my comedy I refer to my band as a “death metal” band rather than grindcore, because generally people have at least heard of death metal, but grindcore to most people sounds like a category on Pornhub or something.

Can you tell us the origin of your Tinder profile picture? I assume that was from a Bandit show?

The pic itself is from June 2019 at House of Independents in Asbury, New Jersey. It was the first time we opened for Pig Destroyer and I was incredibly nervous because they are one of my favorite bands of all time. I made the mistake of eating a Greek salad too soon before our set and during the last song I literally exploded with vomit all over the floor.

I thought I had ruined the show but afterwards Pig D’s singer JR came up to me backstage and asked us to play with them again in October in New York under the condition that I throw up on stage again.

A year or two later I was fucking around on Tinder and my friend suggested I use a band photo as my profile pic, so as a goof I chose that one and gave myself the most generic bio I could. The rest is history.

READ MORE: Comedy x Hardcore: A Conversation with Eric D of MethSyndicate

Have you seen any comedians or bands on the road together? I had thought about what David Cross did for Superchunk. Could you warm up for a Pig Destroyer show? Would that work, or is the energy too different?

So one time when I was early into standup I went to a warehouse show in West Philly. If I remember correctly Backslider were on the bill along with others. When the woman working the door found out I did standup she insisted that I do a set before the headliner. It might have been the worst five minutes of my life. Some guy just shouted "YOU'RE NOT FUNNY!” and it got more laughs than anything I said. Since then I have been traumatized to not mix the two.

That being said, I do think it might be possible. Sometimes at a Bandit show there will be a technical malfunction and I’ll have to kill time while things get repaired. I usually just do crowd work and that seems to go over pretty well. One time we were playing a show in Connecticut and I made fun of the pizza restaurant down the street and some guy just shouted “MY PARENTS OWN THAT PLACE!”

Being an extreme music fan takes a good sense of humor. Are there any other working comedians into extreme music you want to mention?

Obviously, there’s Ian Fidance, a big hardcore guy. Peter Angelo is also a big metalhead who does bits about Sanguisugabogg. Luke Severeid does a lot of bits about growing up listening to metal that I really relate to and my friend Neil Rubenstein is also into metal/punk.

Also, my friend Blake Hammond does a really funny bit about pop-punk that I absolutely love. Ryan Shaner, he's a Philly guy who usually rocks an Insect Warfare shirt during some of his shows! Also, Shayne Smith came out of the Utah hardcore scene and is really killing it. There’s a lot.

Are there any plans for you to put together a comedy tour or streaming special? I see comedians doing their own specials on YouTube. What are your plans in terms of Bandit, and are you doing more stand-up dates soon?

I’m gonna be in Orlando for the next few months and there are a lot of great shows and clubs down here. My goal is to get a solid 20-25 minutes down and then have it filmed professionally and then release it on Youtube. Getting that solid of a set ready has been a passion project of mine this past year.

Bandit is headlining On-Fire festival in Berlin in August and a week later we are playing another festival in the Czech Republic. After that we are taking a break from shows to work on a new album during the fall. Our goal is to get it out early next year.

What is the best pizza in Philadelphia? 

I’m not really a big pizza guy but I did used to worker as a delivery driver at the Pizza Hut in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and let me tell you, if you’ve ever wanted to hold down a really mediocre job while simultaneously battling a crippling addiction to your mom’s ADHD medication, that’s the place for you.

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Gene Meyer on social media: X | Instagram
Bandit on social media: Instagram

Be sure to look out for the next segment in our Comedy x Hardcore series coming soon. 

Tagged: bandit, comedy, comedy x hardcore