MY BIG SISTER, WHO SANG FOR A HARDCORE BAND IN THE 90S
INTERVIEW AND PHOTO BY MAGGIE LEE
New Jersey-based hardcore band Fast Times was around during the mid-90s and my sister Alison was the singer. When I was in elementary school, she would lie to Mom and we’d venture out to see Fanshen, Life’s Halt, Rorschach, and her band play in churches, rundown skate parks, and friends’ basements whole states away (all while making sure I did my homework and was on time for school).
Hardcore for me (and probably everyone who really, really got into it ever) was more than just music. It was about experiencing new and exciting shit. DIY, PMA, deep thoughts, stage dives, circle pits, sing-alongs, photocopied zines, and a beyond-tight-knit community. Hardcore was there for you to fall back on. It was your best friend in high school who ate lunch with you and told you to keep it posi when you were bummed (which was way too often).
Vice: Remember the lyrics for your song “Where Were You”? It went, “Was it at a show, when you did your first dive off the stage, when you were serenaded by Ian McKaye, when that stranger in the pit picked you up off the floor, where were you when you fell in love with hardcore?”
Alison Mennor: Those are embarrassing to me now. They lacked soul, and that was maybe a fatal flaw of what I wrote as Fast Ali. That song is just so corny, especially when seen through my current cynical viewpoint. We came to hate playing that song, and I came to hate singing it. When I did Fast Times, I didn’t know real problems. I hadn’t experienced crisis. I still love life, but I love it for all it has to offer, including pain and struggle. The “feel good” things need to be balanced out. Pain begets soul and deep creativity. Without it, existence is fanciful but shallow. Our music started to head in that direction... then we broke up. And fucking drummer problems plagued us perpetually.
OK, well, when I was 12, I looked out the window and saw Dr. Chud from the Misfits picking you up for a romantic date in a purple pickup truck. Did you guys french at Blair Witch?
Aw, Mags! Fuck you, little sis! Note to self: no more interviews with Maggie Maggo.
I’m telling Mom!
See all articles by this contributor Anonymous, on Sep 17, 2009 wrote:
Drummer matt for FT used play standing up and durning breakdowns he’d run into the crowd, mosh and run back. Roarshach is playing with the Degenerics on Laffeyette st. this sept. Degenerics=best hardcore band to come from this scene | | Anonymous, on Jun 27, 2009 wrote:
fast times ruled. if you were into hardcore at that pathetic time in new jersey history, you fucking loved them. i will never forget liking them, a lot. | | Anonymous, on May 12, 2009 wrote:
Being embarrassed about things you did when you were young is so tacky. Be proud of having been a fucked-up little kid. it got you where you are today, didn’t it? | | Anonymous, on Feb 1, 2009 wrote:
radical punx don’t read vice. dawg. | | Anonymous, on Jan 12, 2009 wrote:
Life’s Halt/Fanshen/Rorschach? Ugh, what a crock of shit. This girl is full of shit. Fast Times sucked. Girls like this ruined hardcore. | | Anonymous, on Nov 19, 2008 wrote:
internet ruined everything. | | Anonymous, on Nov 12, 2008 wrote:
hey, i kinda like those lyrics. they arent the deepest most meaningful words ive ever heard but its still okay to be proud of the things that you love. the scene in my town isnt united. infact, i dont even fucking support it anymore. I do however, understand and love that we are a subgenere culture and i am proud to be part of it. | | Anonymous, on Nov 11, 2008 wrote:
Hardcore is ghey.Radical Punx never die | | Anonymous, on Nov 11, 2008 wrote:
I got a lapdance from your sister at some stripbar in rutherford. | | Anonymous, on Nov 9, 2008 wrote:
Ian MacKaye | | Anonymous, on Nov 9, 2008 wrote:
cute. | | |
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