In the early ’90s New York hardcore scene, GO! stood out for all the right reasons. Fronted by vocalist Mike BS (his government name is Mike Bromberg), the Queens-born band fused urgent, straight-to-the-point hardcore with lyrics that weren’t afraid to challenge the macho status quo. While most of the scene still played it tough and hetero, Mike was openly gay, bringing a fearless honesty that made GO! both confrontational and inspiring.
Three decades later, Mike is still as sharp and passionate as ever. In this conversation, we talk about his Queens upbringing, the moments that pulled him into the hardcore scene, his influential Bullshit Monthly fanzine, the band’s discography, and where GO! stands today.
You know I have to start things off with some Queens talk. What neighborhood did you grow up in? How was your childhood, and did you have a decent family life?
Queens Village, and yeah, my parents were really supportive. All the crazy shit I came up with, they were behind me. I know I took that for granted at the time, but I was really lucky. I was a weird kid, but they knew I wasn't drinking or getting high or doing anything criminal. Maybe I was "free-range."
What was your introduction to hardcore/punk? What were some of the bands you saw early on?
I was listening to like the Sex Pistols, Clash, Ramones, Plasmatics, Gen X – I guess I moved into that from New Wave. But then mid-'84 I saw an article on the Nihilistics and "slam dancing" at CBGBs in the Queens version of the New York Newsday, with all these pics from a matinee there and I was like..."fuck, I am so there!"
I picked up my first Hardcore records (Poison Idea Pick Your King, Discharge Fight Back, and Ill Repute Oxnard, Land of No Toilets) and fanzines – Maximumrocknroll and Flipside – and flyers. I was hooked. By the end of '84 I was going to the matinees every week, plus lots of other shows.
Before SFA and GO! even existed, you started Bullshit Monthly fanzine. There are so many accessible resources these days to help someone create and distribute a fanzine, but that certainly wasn't the case in 1984. What were some of the toughest aspects of doing it? Did you ever get into any drama because of something you wrote in the zine?
Well, I've got a pretty big mouth, so yeah [laughs]. The thing is, I always wrote (and said) what I thought. The title was kind of ironic, cos there was no "bullshit" in it! Just truth, as I saw it.
I just did what made sense to me. Talking to people, getting the scoop on what was going on in the NYHC scene, writing/typing it up along with reviews and pics and stuff, making copies and selling it. For some reason I did the first 17 issues legal-size, so really tall. That was kind of a pain in the ass at times
There were shows where I would sell like 100-200 copies, and the whole place would be reading it between bands. When you're 17, that's pretty cool!
Shining Life Press released a Bullshit Monthly anthology not too long ago. Running the zine must have put you in direct contact with so many people throughout the NYHC scene. Did that help spark the formation of SFA?
Oh yeah. The thing is - I'm easily bored. I need to be doing something. Taking pictures or taking notes or selling fanzines or being in a band or handing out flyers – It's super tough for me to just stand around and watch bands.
Yes, a Bullshit Monthly anthology book came out a few years ago, and at the front I have short essays from 35 people, talking about what the fanzine meant to them. I learned so much about how BSM was a resource for them, and a way to connect to the scene. It was very humbling, and heartwarming.
All 500 copies sold out, and a second printing should be out towards the end of this year. It was printed at actual size - 8.5x14, the size of the first 17 issues. I was surprised it ever came out at all, considering that! But it couldn't be smaller, since so much of it was handwritten, and it was tough to read as it was!
Why did you end up parting ways with SFA? Outside of owning some of the band's records, and seeing the later version of the band with Brendan Rafferty singing, I admittedly don't know much about the early history.
I started SFA in 1985, we had a "real" show in 1986 – Straight Ahead's first show – then at the end of '87 we started getting a little more serious, putting out the Demo, and then the Takes a Lot tape in early 1988.
I invited Brendan in when I was leaving New York (May, 1988), but then I came back so we had two singers, then he left, and then came back, then I left again, and at that point it was like...It needed one vision, one direction. He had a vision for what he wanted to do with the band. I had a different vision.
So I needed a new band, and that was GO! He did so much with SFA, and I'm really proud of what GO! has done. The band is truly a highlight of my life.
The two SFA tapes were never released otherwise until 33 years later, on the SFA The 87-88 Tapes LP.
You’ve said before that GO! was formed specifically to have a message. What messages did you feel weren’t being addressed in the scene at the time—and how did that shape your songwriting?
I knew that at some point I was going to come out, and I was going to want to do songs that made more of a statement – this was late 88 to early 89, when I had stepped away from SFA again, and gone hitchiking for like 2 months. I knew SFA wasn't going to be the vehicle for that. Can't put a square peg into a round hole, y'know.
I picked up a bass and started writing songs with Ronn, the original drummer from SFA. After about a month, Aaron entered the picture and it took off from there. 36 years later, Aaron and I are still playing together. Jim joined GO! in 1990 and the friendship and musical relationship between us all is wonderful. (Thankfully we got a bassist after another month or so. I only did that on the demo and for one show.)
We'll have our 100th show in Porto on October 11!
READ MORE: T.S.O.L. Singer Jack Grisham Shares Crazy Stories from the Early Hardcore Punk Days
Did you guys discuss what stylistic lane you wanted to take with the band, or did you just get in a jam room together and go from there?
In general, I've led the direction of what the band stands for, and the guys have always had my back. I wouldn't do anything that they couldn't stand behind. But I'm the one with the mic and the big mouth pulling that part together.
Sometimes I had an idea for lyrics and write music around it. Other times the guys would come up with a riff or song part and we'd piece it together with general lyrics I had. I have a thick book with lyrics I carried with me, and we'd work it out.
It's possible that we'll write and record some in 2025. It would be 18 years since the last time. But we'll see. Musically, it's shared. Usually if it's really easy I might've done it, and if it's more involved or skilled, it was them.
Talk to me a bit about those early GO! releases. You were quite prolific in a short span of time! Did that feed into why they were released on a slew of different labels?
I never wanted to be that band who only did one 7", just like I never wanted to be the guy who only did one or two issues of their fanzine. (No judgement against bands or fanzine editors where that was their thing.) In like two years we put out four 7" EPs, plus the split EP with Bad Trip, a live flexi, Total (an LP which collected the first three 7"s), and a 7" live in Europe.
And y'know, if someone asked to do a record, we did it. Why not? We appreciated that they were so into the band and wanted to participate and support us in that way.
Our first 7" EP was And the Time is Now – it was pretty rough, but had catchy songs and some gay references and it got some attention. Your Power Means Nothing and Why Suffer? came next - solid songs, covering lots of territory, lots of singalongs (which I love).
The final one in 1991 was There is No Man - which we mostly wrote on the European Tour. We were tight – having played 26 shows in a month! – and the music expanded a bit but without losing who we were. I was studying at a university at the time, there's all kinds of concepts woven into the lyrics, including anthropology and philosophy. Lyrically that one really pushes the envelope.
One release I wanted not to forget about asking you about was the split with fellow Queens legends, Bad Trip. That came about to help support a tour.
What a fun record, and it represented a great moment in time! That was recorded on the tour itself, believe it or not. [Skene! Records owner] Jeff Skene set up our show in Minneapolis, and he got us and Bad Trip time in the studio and we recorded it all one day. As a bonus, "Left" off that 7" is one of my best vocal performances.
We knew Bad Trip from the scene, but playing with them and hanging out with them for a month, that's something that brings people together and makes a friendship real. Great guys. When we had one of our yearly reunions at ABC (2010), they reunited for one time, as well! (The Inflatable Children did, too - it was like a 1990 ABC matinee!)
How was GO! received live, both at home in NYC and elsewhere? What were some of the bands you felt a close bond with?
GO! was always one of the smaller bands, and that was ok. U.S. shows tended to be small. Bowery Electric in 2023 had a nice turnout – thanks to Drew Stone for that.
In Europe, more people are really into GO!, and it's very moving. When someone tells you like "I grew up with your music and never thought I'd have the chance to see you live" – I mean...there were lots of very emotional moments over there. In Berlin, people who had seen us in 1991 came back. In Hamburg so many of my friends from when I lived there showed up, it was like a reunion.
Queer people have let me know over the years how songs like "A Day to Fight For" (our gay anthem from 1990) and "Fear of a Gay Planet" resonated with them, and made them feel welcome in a scene where that wasn't always possible. Once again, very moving and humbling.
Thanks to everyone for the support over the years, and the kind words. Hardcore for me has always been about expression, and connecting with people, being part of the scene. I'm glad I still have so many of the friends I did back in the CBGBs and ABC days, even though it's mostly online now. But not totally. I love when I get to see friends again.
You mentioned already, but GO! always pushed a strong anti-homophobia, anti-misogyny, pro-queer, and anti-racist stance. How did you navigate those subjects in a hardcore community that didn’t always want to hear them?
I'm pretty good at speaking my mind [laughs]. Honestly, I was the right person to bring up gay stuff. I came out in Bullshit Monthly #20, in mid-1989. At that point I was in the scene for like five years. I knew everyone, everyone knew me through the fanzine and SFA and GO! so I wasn't just barging in and stirring stuff up. It's tough to hate gay people when, well, you've known one for years. It started a conversation that was a long time coming.
When I started ABC No Rio, I totally stole the "No Racist, Sexist, or Anti-Gay Bands" policy from 924 Gilman. Huge influence for me there! And I'll tell ya, people said lots of shit about that, and I'm sure they still do. Too bad. There were a few bands that didn't get booked.
There were also dozens of bands that I tried to book who wouldn't play ABC. Many in the larger NYHC scene just shrugged their shoulders at ABC, not even considering it hardcore at all. Their loss. ABC had hardcore/punk matinees every week for over 25 years! And it's coming back. The building is being built and shows will start there again in 2026!
Yeah, GO! was synonymous with ABC No Rio, and the scene of people there. What did that space mean to you personally and politically, and how crucial was it to the band's identity?
Hey, we played lots of shows that weren't at ABC, and toured some even [laughs]. But yeah, we're definitely connected to the ABC scene and other bands around the same time: Born Against, Citizens Arrest, Rorschach, SFA, The Manacled.
It was a special moment in time – creativity, fun, fantastic music, great vibe (with no fights or violence), friendship. Bands from around the country (and around the world) played there.
ABC was a magical spot, and I'm psyched to play there again! I started the matinees there, and booked and ran the first 6 months, but then I stepped away and others took over, and many of those dedicated individuals are still involved. I have huge respect for that.
Why did GO! end in 1991?
It was a combination of us going off to different schools in different states, and the feeling that it was good to wrap up when we did, like a book has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Originally, mid-1990 was going to be it, but I'm happy we came back for the European tour and that last 7" EP!
Tell me about your life after that. I know you were still active in music after GO! broke up, but I think I remember hearing that you left New York for a while?
After GO! I did (ego.) on and off for a couple of years – mostly off – and I was pretty much totally out of the scene for like a dozen years. After some university time in Texas, I lived in a squat in Hamburg for six months, then a commune for 3 years in Missouri. I ended up in California at the end of 1995, which is where I've lived ever since.
GO! did shows once a year 2006-2011, and then reunited in 2023. I had a band No Mistake in 2011-2013 (guitar and shared vocals), and did a project in 2022 with friends from Crippled Fox in Hungary called TxWxOx – Two Worlds One. I'm really proud of that one. I had 18 months to edit and rewrite the lyrics! Kind of like a thrashier GO!
Reactive and What We Build Together came out in 2006 and 2007, respectively. What was the spark behind getting GO! back together?
I definitely missed singing and being in front of an audience, the ability to express myself like that. I missed the scene, missed the guys...it was like, why not? There was no reason not to.
We hadn't written songs together or recorded for 15 years at that point. I'm happy with those records. The songs are good, the overall energy and experience. Re-releasing them onto the IMPACT LP (with a live set off WFMU in 2006) was a pleasure. The second press of that just came out recently.
Huge thanks to Sergi from Barcelona, who came up with the idea. I'll get to meet him – and so many others I've corresponded with – when we play there in October.
Hardcore and punk are in a much more diverse place now than when you started Bullshit Monthly in the early '80s. How do you feel about where things stand today in terms of inclusion and politics in the scene?
Oh, it's fantastic! Totally love it. Back in the '80s/'90s, being queer and into hardcore – for me it was like being queer and Jewish. Tough to reconcile, y'know. Racially, I think the NYHC scene was pretty diverse when I was involved, and I always appreciated that about New York.
Finally, what’s next for GO!? Any plans for new material, archival reissues, or upcoming shows?
Funny you should ask...The Just Say GO! LP will be out in early October, with the record release show October 3rd in Barcelona! It even has a gatefold sleeve, and a 16-page booklet. It has just about everything we did from 1989-1991, like 59 songs or something.
They'll be shipping in November. I have so much respect for Robert Refuse, so working with him is always a pleasure.
Touring Europe again? Very cool.
9 shows in 10 days – across Spain, Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Portugal. It's kind of amazing, 40 years after I first picked up a microphone with SFA, to still be able to do this. It blows my mind.
I feel very lucky, and I don't take it for granted. Thanks again to everyone, for everything.
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Check out GO! on Instagram to see all of their upcoming tour dates and release info.
Tagged: 90s hardcore week, go
