Interview with Ben Cook of No WarningNovember 10, 2004
Phone Interview
As I hung up the phone with No Warning singer Ben Cook after chatting for a few minutes, all I could think was how much I wish I could interview all bands just minutes after they woke up. There’s really no telling whether the great lines I got from Cook were a result of him being half-asleep or his everyday personality. Either way, Cook was a blast and there’s no doubt that he and his bandmates–Matt DeLong (guitars), Jordan Posner (guitars), Zach Amster (bass) and Jesse Labovitz (drums)–have mastered melodic hardcore on the band’s latest record “Suffer, Survive.” Here are the highlights from the interview:
On touring with The Used: “It kind of sucks when you play tours where you’ve got to sit through a bunch of shitty bands and kind of pretend you like them. But this tour hasn’t been like that so I’m psyched.”
On the crowds during The Used tour: “We’ve never really played shows where it’s like 80% twelve-year-old girls.”
On Warped Tour: “The Warped Tour was, I don’t know if it was the best experience for us because I think over the years, The Warped Tour has gotten a little less aggressive and more poppy and emo and stuff, and that’s not really where we’re at right now or ever. It was kind of whack for us, with people being like, ‘What the hell? This isn’t Yellowcard.’ And on top of that, for some reason all the days that we played it was like 110 degrees out and they don’t even supply you with water half the time, so we were dying.”
On Projekt Revolution: “Once we got to Projekt Revolution, it was like an oasis. We got water, food, and kids were really into it. It was awesome. Everyone was there for music. They weren’t there for pop-punk.”
On what sets No Warning apart from other hardcore outfits: “Not a lot of hardcore bands sing. And not a lot of hardcore bands can be hard and melodic at the same time without sounding kind of screamo or cheesy or just shit in my ears. I think we kind of pull that off pretty well.”
On the trouble with hardcore bands these days: “People get too wrapped up in politics and caring what people think of them and like Internet bullshit and all that stuff. People start doing their bands for other reasons other than making themselves happy. We’ve done our band for us from day one and that will never change. We’ll never cater to anybody but ourselves. That might sound selfish, but you’ve got to think for yourself because you can’t be writing anything that you don’t want to hear.”
On three words that describe No Warning: “Crush, kill, destroy”
On this interview: “Thank you very much for having me woken up. Now I’m alive!”
Related Links:
Official Website