I don’t recall my first in person interaction with photographer Carl Gunhouse but my guess would be it happened either in or outside of a early to mid-90’s hardcore matinee at CBGB’s. Over the years Carl has been a solid contributor to the hardcore scene through his photography and has an amazing knack for showing up to a show you would never have expected him to be at including Long Island VFW’s or New Jersey basement shows. In pursuing this interview I found out he has even traveled as far away as Colombia and Japan to shoot hardcore shows. He ...

Vile Mind out of Huntington, West Virginia released their debut EP “Endless Suffering” last May and have not looked back having a busy run ever since as they build up their local scene along with the recently formed Huntington Music Collective. One might not think immediately of hardcore when you are talking about the Appalachian Mountain region but when you are done reading this interview with Vile Mind’s lead singer Nate Holley you will see that they are dead serious about the music and message they put out and it seems like nothing is going to stop them. New music ...

It seems as if the history of Seattle’s Chopping Block is broken up into two parts with their first show in January of 2020 being the un-official start of this band and the end of 2022 being the end of that first phase. September of 2024 saw the release of their “Seattle’s Hardcore” EP that had many like myself saying or thinking “Wow, these guys have really taken this band to another level…” That EP came in at only 7 minutes in length though… kind of like having a half a piece of pizza when you are starving! Chopping Block ...

All 4 All out of Syracuse NY had one of the sickest releases of 2025 with their “Refuse” EP. Raw, old-school style hardcore but also original in that you could feel the passion coming out of your speakers. “Refuse” is/was definitely NOT one of those releases that just grabs a bunch of riffs and throws them into a blender…. It was definitely on repeat for most of the second half of 2025 for us here at In Effect. It was also their third release and showed a lot of improvement over their first two releases. I can’t wait to hear ...

Up next in our “20 Questions With…” series is Carlos Chavarriaga, lead singer for Raw Brigade who were born in Bogota Colombia in 2016. In the last 10 years this unit has become a force in the worldwide hardcore community with members spread out between the USA and Colombia. The drive with this band and Carlos is undeniable. They always seem to have an upcoming tour… a new release… just always something. Their latest is titled “100%”, a full-length release on Flatspot Records that comes in both English and Spanish versions. We caught up with Carlos shortly after their US ...

Straight Ahead were a short lived NYHC band that featured Tommy Carroll on vocals, Craig Setari on bass, Rob Echeverria on guitar and Armand Majidi on drums. They got their start in 1986, released a handful of songs and played a small amount of shows during their short-lived run which ended in 1988. There has always been nostalgia surrounding the hardcore bands that came out of NYC during the late 80’s and Straight Ahead are no exception. As the years moved further and further away from the 1980’s many of these bands would reform for reunion shows and in some ...

New York's Point Blank are a hard-working blue collar hardcore band who have been at it now for 11 years. Their new full-length album "Back To Square One" is out now on WTF Records (NL) on vinyl as well as CD. We caught up with their guitarist Danny Derella and vocalist Ken "KWE" Wagner to talk about the new album, Danny's days in NYHC legends Underdog as well as other aspects of this duos decades long involvement within the NYHC scene. The current Point Blank lineup also consists of bassist Chris Cappello and drummer Gary Martinez. Interview conducted in early ...

  UK Hardcore crew False Reality are making all the right noises for UK hardcore right now. The band who are made up of Rachel Rigby (vocals), Joe Cornwell (bass), Louis Dale (drums) and David Connolly (guitars), have just dropped their latest album “Faded Intentions” and it is a collection of songs that salutes the bands influences whilst raising their own stakes when it comes to their high energy, life affirming hardcore anthems. To celebrate the release of “Faded Intentions”, In Effect Hardcore’s Gavin Brown caught up with Rachel and Louis to get the lowdown on the record and its ...

In my eyes Trouble Bound out of NY’s Hudson Valley are an extremely underrated band who should be household names in the realm of punk rock households… Granted they came out of a long hiatus not too long ago but have ramped up operations over the last 12-18 months which included the “Broken Ribs & Bloodclots” album that came out in October of 2024. The Hudson Valley knows what they have in Trouble Bound, the goal here is to help spread their music and message even further with this interview that took place at a recent band practice with all ...

Excel out of Venice, CA got their start way back in the 1980's and in 2025 it is pretty damn cool to report that they are not only still around but working on new music as well. Their studio album history sports two fan favorites in 1987’s “Split Image” and 1989’s “The Joke’s On You”, with 1995’s “Seeking Refuge” not “hitting the mark” as their bassist Shaun Ross tells us in this October interview. What will a new Excel album bring? What we do know is that band co-founder Dan Clements and OG bassist Shaun Ross are now joined by ...