Back in 1997 a few days after seeing S.O.D. and War Zone on consecutive days, we went to see Spazz play in Red Bank. Our curiosity was peaked by a band called Full Speed Ahead, were advertised on the flyer as having ex members of Human Remains, a band that we really liked. We did not get the type of band that we were expecting to get, but what we heard really impressed us. After getting free demos from the band (they gave them out through mail, how cool is that?) I knew I had to interview them. Not really knowing the band yet I did this quickie with Will through the mail in July of 1997.
1. Who is in the band?
Mike S.-Plays Guitar and yells.
Pete-Plays drums and usually breaks them.
Mike C.-Yells a lot and writes all the lyrics.
Will-I play bass and drink beer.
2. How did the band form?
Well…the band was started by Mike S. and Pete and they asked me to play. We didn’t have a singer for a bit. Then Matt Codger was singing for a little while but he quit to start The Casino Royales. So we recorded the demo with vocals and had that sitting around for a while until Mike S. asked Mike C. to sing, and well here we are.
3. You guys played some cool covers live. Any reason for doing them?
Well we started off playing covers because we didn’t have a lot of songs, but now we have a lot of songs written. But we still do a few of the covers because we like those songs a lot.
4. A lot of people were surprised at the change from Human Remains to Full Speed Ahead. Any thoughts?
Hmm… Well if they do, that’s cool. But Full Speed Ahead is something totally different from Human Remains. Full Speed Ahead isn’t nearly as technical as Human Remains.
5. Upcoming shows of note?
Well we are really looking to play some church picnics and stuff like that but I think we will keep playing the punk and hardcore shows for now.
6. Any political agendas?
I don’t really look at Full Speed Ahead being a political hardcore or punk band. Mostly we write songs or maybe just put together cool parts that sound ok, and bust them out live and see what happens.
7. Closing comments?
Well we are going to be recording soon again, so if anyone can help us put out a 7″ or something. If anyone can get us some shows that would be cool too. Always looking for shows.
