This week we have a fresh and sincere interview with a very busy man from a sunny state of California - the mastermind behind the super productive DIY label - No Time Records Tommy Smith!
So which is it - "No time" or "no time for fun"?
So which is it - "No time" or "no time for fun"?
Hahahaha, so the
label is called No Time Records, the bandcamp link is in reference to the other
founder of the label’s old band called High Tension, in one of their songs, he
says the phrase “I’ve got No Time For Fun, my old self is dead to me”.
Seriously - how do
you have the time to do everything you do?
I don’t, a lot of
late nights and energy drinks. With the whole covid lockdown and lack of shows,
I’ve had more time to focus on JUST the release label side of things, but under
normal circumstances, we’re throwing nearly bi-weekly shows, 3 to 5 releases a
month, playing in a few bands and touring.
What was your first
exposure to grindcore and what made you fall in love with this genre? What made
you go "I'm gonna do all of this shit!"?
I had been a fan of
powerviolence since high school, I mainly listened to like, 4 bands, all local
to Orange County. There is video of like, 15 year old me scared shitless at an
ACxDC show. My current partner started getting me more interested in this
stuff, plus going out to more shows in Los Angeles and linking up with more
bands from the area.
You are this keen guy
who just wants to do all this cool stuff, but there is a lot of negativity and
cynicism in the world and I know sarcasm can be demotivating. How do you deal
with all the smartasses that just know everything?
I grew up being
bullied relentlessly in elementary and middle school for my weight and overall
weird behaviors, punk was the first thing that I ever felt like I belonged.
After building a core group of people wanting me to succeed at what I do, I
really just brush of negativity.
I see you are a big
fan of Tony Hawks Pro Skater lol (me too!). What other inspirations could you
mention? Games? Movies? Books? People?
Outside of the Tony
Hawk games, for sure the Guitar Hero franchise is what also perked my interest
into “rock” music, I always enjoyed the punk songs more than the oldie classic
rock and metal. Dance Dance Revolution is actually how I found ska music, I
remember hearing “Little Bitch” by The Specials on one of the machines and
found that music so infectious.
I guess for movies like, maybe SLC Punk? I saw that one once, thought it was ok, there was this dude I went to high school with who swore that movie was like the bible. Not much of a book guy, never really read many like “zines”, mainly spent my youth playing videogames.
I guess for movies like, maybe SLC Punk? I saw that one once, thought it was ok, there was this dude I went to high school with who swore that movie was like the bible. Not much of a book guy, never really read many like “zines”, mainly spent my youth playing videogames.
I would really like
to learn more about your personality. Could you give us some background on who
you are besides your love for music? How old are you? Where u from? Family?
Work? Relationships? Any funny tattoos? Any unfulfiled dreams you might have?
So I am 24, born and
raised in Orange County, California. I just graduated college with a BS in
Computer Science, currently looking for my like “real” job, I have a part-time
gig which is the reason I was able to fund early No Time shit. I am happily
taken to my lovely and supportive partner of over 4 years, I plan on marrying
her but I wanna move out of my moms house before doing that. My mom is more or
less supportive of my label, my dad absolutely despises it.
I have 4 shit stick n poke tattoos, a coffee mug from a piece of The Stupid Stupid Henchmen artwork, my absolute favorite band. The phrase “FIGHT LIKE HELL”, the Wu-Tang Clan logo but with the band name WADEYE in it instead, the bassist of that band has a No Time tattoo so I thought it was only fair I got one of his band, and a cassette tape that reads “TAPE LIFE OR HATE LIFE”, I gotta go back over it tho.
I have 4 shit stick n poke tattoos, a coffee mug from a piece of The Stupid Stupid Henchmen artwork, my absolute favorite band. The phrase “FIGHT LIKE HELL”, the Wu-Tang Clan logo but with the band name WADEYE in it instead, the bassist of that band has a No Time tattoo so I thought it was only fair I got one of his band, and a cassette tape that reads “TAPE LIFE OR HATE LIFE”, I gotta go back over it tho.
https://notimeforfun.bandcamp.com
what an impressive catalog. What 5 releases should one start with if they know
nothing about your label? Which ones are you most proud of?
So all of the NoTime For Fun compilation series are a good place to start, they sort of “sum
up” the label at the time in our history, outside of that, The Stupid StupidHenchmen “Charmingly Demonic”, that’s my absolute favorite album of all time.
The Infested “Myths, Lies and Hypocrites” is also one of my absolute favorites
as well. As for our more grindy stuff, LIVID’s “Life is Pain, Life is Shit” is
a solid fucking record I am stoked to have under the NTR banner, and for a 5th,
probably the new Raging Nathans album “Oppositional Defiance” some absolute
great pop punk.
You do all kinds of physical
releases (CDs/LPs/MCs) and you release A LOT of music. I am not going to ask
why you think physical is superior to digital these days, because I get it and
I hate this kind of question. However, - how did you find a crowd that thinks
the same and how do you sell most of the stuff without going bankrupt? If I
would do everything you do here in Europe I'd need to have very rich parents to
support me lmao
Oh I’ve been
bankrupt quite a few times hahaha, making most everything myself to start,
about 95% of my tapes releases I make myself and in small runs, I also don’t
pay myself for ANYTHING. I think people like having physical versions of stuff,
more and more people understand that buying physical items is the best way to
directly support artists they like.
California is fucking
huge and it's history is very rich with all kinds of music. Do you think it
makes it harder or easier to run a DIY label / have a band / make shows etc.
compared to a remote place where not much is happening?
There is a lot of
competition for sure, there’s no doubt about that, there’s nights were there
can be anywhere from 5 to 20 shows all happening within 50 miles of each other.
Super common for people to cruise like a DIY show at the beginning of the night
then hit a club show later. It’s harder to stand out for sure, so many people
to try and compete with, but you are also surrounded with so many people,
something like 18ish million between LA, Orange County, San Diego, and
Riverside, you are bound to have somebody listen.
I have been to Los
Angeles and I know it's a big, dirty mf and can be a bit scary at some points,
as opposed to this ridiculous, sparkling, fancy hollywood image of this city
most europeans have in their skulls. Do you feel safe there doing shows etc and
do you find the extreme social inequality as an inspiration to what you do?
What are the other big problems you see in the US? Would you call yourself a
patriot?
We had a band on
tour we were hosting a show for, park their van, and shit you not even 40
minutes later, they come back and all of their gear had been stolen, shit
fucking luck. LA gets a bad rap for theft and violence outside of shows, a few
infamous spots here and there. I don’t really feel sketched out knowing that the super majority of people just want to have a good time and get home. There’s bad shit for sure that you gotta keep your ears and eyes up for. I’m not from super poor roots, I never have claimed to be, I’m not rich by any means, but a lower middle class. I always felt punk was for the voiceless and if I can use my privilege coming from somewhat well-off background to devote my time into a DIY label then that’s what I will do.
One of the biggest problems that is facing the US is racial discrimination and abuse of police power, I’ve been having those uncomfortable conversation with family, roommates and coworkers, some understand, some still think ANTI-FA is a terrorist group so, take what you can get, can’t waste your energy on those you can’t reach. Orange County is super republican that I am not surprised people like my father and 99% of my coworkers don’t really understand why the country is so fucked.
Also the heroin epidemic is something I care deeply about and take to heart, after having multiple friends pass from ODing or be in and out of rehab and have their whole lives ruined, it breaks my heart. We try to push for harm reduction in the lyrics I write for my band, I want to start handing out clean needles and NARCAN at my shows but I really don’t know the legality or a efficient way of doing that, maybe that will be the first thing I push for when shows can happen again.
Do you find it easier
to work with US bands rather than European bands? Or is there no difference for
you?
So I went through
high school being a HUGE fan of a bunch of UK bands, like Rash Decision,
Private Gain, The Domestics, JAKAL, From The Cradle To The Rave etc so I hold
European bands like super high above States bands in this weird, almost like
they are so much more better than US bands because they are from Europe
mentality, maybe because I can’t go see these bands live unless there is the
off-chance one of them tours. So I love working with international bands from
all over, and I can be more forgiving of any of the little issues that come up
with releasing. Although international co-releases fucking suck, dealing with
multiple currencies and shipping units ALL OVER is a fucking expensive
nightmare.
So besides label,
making shows etc you are also in a hardcore punk band Corrupt Vision. Can you
tell us a bit about your band? Are (were) you in any other bands?
Corrupt Vision is a
crossover grindcore / crack rock steady (skacore) band that I do with the other
founder of No Time Records. The members of Corrupt Vision also play as the
harsh noise band TIMExCUBE as sort of a joke. Me and Fern (label partner) also
play in our folk punk band called The Insomniac Collective. I am starting a
power violence band called NO MOTIVE with my friend Josh from a band called The
Bimbos and hope to have a demo out for that before years end.
Do ya'll really hate
SKA or is it like an ongoing joke? I'll be honest I'm not a fan of the genre,
but I can recognize a lot of SKA-like riffs in your music 😃
Corrupt Vision dubs our music as “Anti-Ska”, we are sort-of a direct response to the super shitty, copy/paste, sickly sweet poppy party ska that’s prevalent in the Orange County scene here. We hate that most current ska bands are just riding off the sounds of the 90’s and not really adding much to it, lack of diversity in the sound, empty lyrics and overall cringy presence, we really aren’t fans.
We also like being too grind for ska and too ska or grind that we sorta piss off the elitists of both genres, I have people from both scenes say we would sound better if we dropped either the ska or the grind.
Corrupt Vision dubs our music as “Anti-Ska”, we are sort-of a direct response to the super shitty, copy/paste, sickly sweet poppy party ska that’s prevalent in the Orange County scene here. We hate that most current ska bands are just riding off the sounds of the 90’s and not really adding much to it, lack of diversity in the sound, empty lyrics and overall cringy presence, we really aren’t fans.
We also like being too grind for ska and too ska or grind that we sorta piss off the elitists of both genres, I have people from both scenes say we would sound better if we dropped either the ska or the grind.
Any chance you guys
would tour europe sometime when covid19 is under control? What places would you
like to visit the most and what are your favorite european bands?
We (tentatively)
have plans to tour the UK in April of 2021 with a band called Rash Decision,
billed around a festival called Manchester Punk Festival, however, with the god
awful Covid Response of both the UK and the US, I don’t see that happening. We
would LOVE to come and play the rest of Europe at some point as well, I
understand the UK is not necessarily the same as the rest of Europe, but with
the Brexit shit, we don’t wanna risk being sent home hopping from country to
country.
I dont think I have
heard a spotify podcast about grindcore before! How did that
happen and do you get many listeners? Any competition out there?
Its not so much a
grindcore podcast as it is just about me and Fern talk about the label and all
that we do, I think we are at like, 30 – 40 listeners so far which is dope, I
think, wouldn’t mind more but talking with my buddy weekly and making each
other laugh has been a great thing for my mental health.
Thank you so much for super fast, but also thoughtful and honest answers man! Next time I'm in on the west coast we must get drunk from a brown paper bag by the skatepark at the beach!
Make sure to check out and support everything Tommy has been up to!
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