Philadelphia has the best shows. Period. Check the newest videos for proof. See ya in 2010.

A viewer recently asked for the ability to sort the videos page by name and most recently added. I fought with JQuery for a few hours to get the pagination to work, but everything seems functional now. I hope this makes finding videos a little bit easier since the archive is starting to grow at a rapid rate. When sorting by most recent, please note that everything after Wisdom in Chains is just in reverse alphabetical order. This is due to my rebuilding of the entire database a few weeks back. Everything moving forward, though, will be sorted accordingly.

Just as this site is funded through donations, I like to run it based on suggestions as well. If there's a feature you wish to see added, please contact me and let me know. I am a firm believer in collaboration and feedback is the best way to generate new content. I've got a long list of changes I'd like to make but I am always open to your ideas (again, as long as they are reasonable!)

Some of you might recall my attempts to move to a tapeless recording solution. The most time consuming part of this project is easily transferring footage from the tapes to the computer. It has to be done in real-time...and my time is extremely limited. The idea behind tapeless recording is to bypass the capture phase and record directly onto a hard disk of some sort. Tapeless solutions are expensive and my camera came out before cameras were designed especially for tapeless recording. Perfect opportunity for a DIY project.

A few months back I tried filming with a small netbook connected to the camera. It worked in small scale examples, but failed miserably at shows. A few of you sent me e-mails about what you thought was going wrong and I think you were right: PA speakers are so loud that they cause the hard drive to skip. Afterall, most drives have moving parts and video capture just won't be possible if the drive is vibrating too much.

The obvious workaround was to upgrade to a SSD (solid state disk), but that technology is still very new and therefore very expensive for a limited amount of space. I seemed shit out of luck. On a tip from another viewer I decided to try using a small 16GB memory card. These things are pretty cheap (under $100) and large enough to film a band or two. Last night I gave this idea a thorough test. I filmed 5 bands (25GB of video) straight to the netbook (housed in my backpack) and it worked flawlessly. It took a few minutes in betwen bands to transfer the videos from the flash card to a different drive, but that's not asking too much.

So, was it worth it? I think so. I had everything uploaded by this afternoon. The only limiting factors are how fast it takes me to make an album thumbnail, how long it takes the computer to do two rounds of conversions, and the upspeed of my internet connection. The process could still be streamlined, but this is a huge step forward and means all future footage will theoretically be uploaded within the first day of a show (no guarantees though).

No more wasting money on tapes. All donation money will now go towards hard drive space (FIY: 1hr ~ 14-15GB) and most importantly an HD camera. If anyone wants to know more about my DIY tapeless solution, feel free to contact me.

I realized I haven't updated this part of the site in about 2 months. Does anyone even read this shit anyway? A bunch of live sets have been added since I last posted (I wanna say like 20?), so peruse the Videos section if you haven't lately.

I've been getting a lot of thank-you e-mails and donations from people all over the world and I just wanted to extend my gratitude to everyone. I wouldn't label myself a communist despite some of the imagery and rhetoric on this site, but I'm certainly anti-capitalist. The outpouring of support (both financial and otherwise) has proven a hypothesis I have been curious about. I wondered if it would be possible for a project/endeavor to survive solely through donations and not through commercialization. The question is simple: if people appreciate something freely available, A: Will they still find legitimate value in it, and B: Will they help to sustain it without really receiving anything they can claim to be their "own"? Aside from the few shirts I've sold, my point has been successfully proven. How long this model will continue to be self-sustained (for the most part) remains to be seen.

Do I think this could work on a larger scale? Despite my Robin Hood-like fantasies, no, I don't think it would. This model would unquestionably fail for record labels, but it has been rather neat to see it work for a niche area like video documentation of hardcore shows. It begs the question, in what other societal sectors can emergent behavior of the collective individuals lead to the betterment of the whole?

Okay, it's 3:31am and I just finished migrating the site to a new server. The site was temporarily redirected for the last few days because the (FREE) server I had been using shit the bed. I went ahead and bought webspace elsewhere on a much more reliable server. Hopefully things will load a bit faster than before. It took me all day to rebuild my SQL database, which is basically a giant table of information. If you notice any incorrect links (whether it be albums, or links to a band's myspace), please report them so they can be corrected.

What have I learned from this debacle? mysqldump is a friend I should have relied on.

hate5six.com launched one year ago today. 365 days, 2 full fests, 121 live sets later and still going strong. Thanks to everyone who has showed their support in one way or another this past year--it's truly humbling.

I printed a small number of shirts to help offset the costs for this project (for camera equipment, website/video hosting fees, etc). They're $13/$15 shipped (US/International) or $10 if you see me at a show.

THESE ARE FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. E-mail me with your size at hate5sixproductions@gmail.com and I'll let you know if I have one in your size. Paypal only (but don't send payment until I confirm whether or not I have your size). I'm too lazy to set up an online store or anything like that which is why I'm doing it this way. More shirts will be printed depending on the demand.

Last night I had a test run for my tapeless recording idea as a means to do away with the endless hours I spend transferring video from tapes to my computer. The solution: wear a laptop in a backpack and record straight to that. The tests I ran at home worked fine, but everything shit the bed when I tried to film Ruiner and Crime In Stereo. My apologies to those bands and anyone who wanted to see that footage. I resorted back to tapes for the remainder of the show. Polar Bear Club and Strike Anywhere are both up in the "Videos" section. Time to figure out what the fuck went wrong with my gear...

Check out the third issue of EYESORE FANZINE: Strictly East Coast Edition. Featuring: Naysayer, Trapped Under Ice, Backtrack, Foundation, and an interview with hate5six.com. Read zines. Support DIY.

Shirts will be sold at shows I'm filming. Information about online ordering to come. Support DIY.

...I film myself screwing up the ride-out on a new trick.

One month, 45 bands later, I'm fucking relieved to have all the footage from TIH hardcore uploaded. My arm is still hurting from that weekend. I should probably see a doctor.

For me, nothing embodies hardcore more than the DIY ethic; after all, the seeds of hardcore have been able to grow solely through DIY endeavors: bands, labels, zines, etc. For some people, hardcore is all they have. This is a community that thrives on contribution from everyone involved within. There have always been photographers in hardcore and, more recently videographers, and I'd like to take a moment and give recognition where recognition is due. This list is by no means all inclusive, but Dan from Future Breed, Manny Mares, Robby Redcheeks, Todd P, and Ryan from KO Films busted their asses not only this weekend at This Is Hardcore, but continually do so week after week in order to document and preserve something that has collectively shaped an entire community. This is a labor of love for these guys and even if you are unable to donate money to their projects, at least thank them when you see them at shows. That in itself makes the hours holding a camera and trying to capture the best shots completely worth it. It's truly an honor for me to be able to participate in something along with these guys.

A lot of footage is starting to surface, so be sure to check out the link below. More footage will be added daily. I am currently experiencing audio syncing issues towards the end of my videos. It's pretty annoying but I need to wait until Vimeo.com finds a solution for it. While I hate publishing anything even remotely sub-par, I know people are dying to see the footage. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Please contact me if you notice any other problems with the videos since I personally won't get to watch/enjoy them for a while.

Welcome to HATE5SIX.COM's coverage of This Is Hardcore 2009. In the interest of time, all footage will be released in two phases. The first round for each band will be uncut with little editing. The sets will be parsed and tagged in the second phase (mostly for my own sanity). If you are able to identify the setlists/song order for a given band's set, please contact me at hate5six.com/contact.php as that will help expedite the process and make my life easier.

When will the footage be up? The footage will be up when it's up. If all goes to plan, some sets will begin to appear the morning after the previous night's show. This marathon will be interesting. I'm moving at the end of the month and I begin grad school the second week of September, so hopefully I'll get everything out of the way by then. For those keeping score, the Burning Fight project is still in queue and will take priority over the second phase of the TIH footage. In other words, you'll just have to deal with what gets uploaded (and when, for that matter). KO Films will also be filming this weekend, so make sure you check out his site as well.

I've just been given the green-light to film This Is Hardcore 2009 and now I'm turning to YOU for advice. I won't have the energy/time/resources to film every band, but I plan on getting a good chunk of them. I've filmed 43.9% of these bands before so I'm thinking I should branch out and aim to film other bands this time around (ie don't take it personally if I don't film a band you wanna see/you're in).

I'm not making promises here; I'm just curious who people are interested in the most.

Floorpunch played on Saturday in a remote, bucolic place called Jermyn, PA. I was expecting a larger turnout, but I assume most people opted not go citing that they'll just see FP at This Is Hardcore. Horrible logic. Every band was awesome despite their shortened sets. Force Fed's DYS cover was just what I needed, too. The rest of the footage will begin popping up this week. Be sure to visit KO Films; he filmed the show as well and he'll probably have his footage up sooner than I will.

UPDATE (7.20): Force Fed is now up.
UPDATE (7.21): The Mongoloids set is now up.
UPDATE (7.22): Mother of Mercy set is now up.
UPDATE (7.23): Bad Seed set is now up.

This past Saturday (6/20) was the 2009 York Jam--an annual event held in York, PA. Since 1990, Flatland BMX riders from all over have converged upon York every summer for a massive jam session. Attending the York Jam is akin to making the hajj to Mecca...but for flatland riders. York is the birthplace of modern flatland and the jam is held there for both historical and posterity reasons. Having not made a BMX video in well over a year, I decided to make the trip up to York for the first time since 2005. I got plenty of riding in myself, but I was eager to film as well. The intermittent monsoon-like rains did not detract from the level of riding that day. In fact, Isaiah Jordan managed to continue riding even as the rain was starting to flood the lot. It was pretty fucking insane seeing him pull a bunch of shit during all of that. I regret not investing in a waterproof cover for my camera because I would have loved to have filmed it. Pictures of it can be found here:

Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3

Read more about the history of the York Jam here. Enjoy!

Pictures from the weekend are starting to surface and they are absolutely beautiful and inspiring. It was a pleasure being able to meet and interact with some of the photographers this weekend. All of them are incredibly talented and I highly recommend taking a peek at their work:

Chris Z's Gallery
Nicole K's Gallery

More links to come!

All information regarding the Burning Fight footage can be found here: hate5six.com/burningfight.

This last weekend has easily been one of the most memorable ones I've had in an absurdly long time. 108 has been my favorite band for many years and I decided to follow part of their tour through the East Coast for two reasons: they aren't able to tour as frequently as many other bands and because there is a dearth of 108 footage online. I managed to convince myself to film their NYC set on April 25th, but it might be clear that I was singing along the whole time. Later this week I'll be posting the footage from their April 26th show in Doylestown, PA and the April 27th show in Baltimore. I couldn't bring myself to hold the camera again for those sets, so I set my camera up on a tripod and went apeshit the whole time; hopefully the footage came out alright.

It was refreshing to see many old friends this weekend and even more exciting to meet so many new ones, too. I had so many awesome conversations with people over the course of the weekend and heard incredible new music (new for me at least). This was the first time I saw Soul Control and I Rise and I was thoroughly impressed. Footage from both bands will be posted in the near future (most likely after Burning Fight). I took away so much from this weekend. There is way too much isolation in hardcore and this weekend I talked to more strangers than I ever had before. You'd be surprised at how "normal" such conversations turn out to be. In conclusion, support these bands and talk to them afterward.

I don't want to belabor this point too much, but it saddened me to see so many people leaving before 108 and/or just sitting around on the sides or in the back plastered with a disinterested countenance. People seem to have this proclivity to feel alienated when it comes to 108 because their (mis)conceptions of what the band is or isn't tends to obfuscate their ears and minds. The substance of their lyrics is holistically universal: from dealing with the feelings of isolation to wanting to find reciprocated love to understanding the existential questions that plague our minds. Additionally, the instrumentals are fucking soul-crushing in and of themselves. Fuck your assumptions and just listen with an open mind (I hate cliche's, but it's true). 108 delivers the introspective content that is severely bereft in a lot of hardcore. You might not necessarily agree with them in every respect, but I guarantee everyone can take away something meaningful from them. That said, go check them out.

Apparently my videos aren't working right now. This isn't a problem on my end, but rather a widespread problem with my video hosting service. My stuff should be up once they resolve the issue on their end. I apologize for the delay!

UPDATE: WE'RE BACK.

I decided to swing by a Baltimore show on my way home to NJ this weekend--and I'm glad I did. I perched myself up on the balcony at The Ottobar and got some of the best looking and sounding video to date. The entire show was great; I wish I had brought more tapes because I regret not having filmed Deep Sleep and Psyched to Die. Maybe some other time...

The new "no stagediving" policy at The Ottobar rendered the crowed pretty tame up until the moment "World Peace" began to ring in. Thankfully the paper signs didn't seem to worry anyone. Anyway, here they are: Bad Seed, Pulling Teeth (record release show!), Wisdom in Chains, and the fucking Cro-Mags. And yes, they played "Seekers of the Truth". Get into it or get off my site.

This is basically just an excuse for me to use some cool new toy. Follow me on and you'll receive updates as soon as new videos are added to my site. I may also use it to let people know what show's I'm going to/filming. Be sure to come say hi if you'll be at a show I'm filming.

In lieu of the lack of updates in about a month, I went ahead and started putting up footage from a really great show this past weekend (2/28) in Edison, NJ. I've gotten around to putting up: Bad Seed (who are really friendly dudes, by the way), The Rival Mob, My Luck, and Mother of Mercy. Have Heart and Bracewar will be up tonight if all goes according to plan.

UPDATE:: All went to plan (albeit 7 hours longer than I expected) and both Bracewar and Have Heart are now up. Relive the stagedives while I go to bed.

Please let me know if you notice any weird discoloration/artifacts in any of my videos. The company that hosts my videos has been having issues with their encoding mechanism. I've checked most of my videos and they should be fine. I may have missed some though, so it'd be greatly appreciated if you could let me know if any of my videos look uglier than usual. The problem manifests itself pretty clearly on people's faces and on light backdrops--it resembles a Photoshop-like watercolor filter and only lasts for a few seconds at a time.

The site was down for a few hours, then redirected, then down again. Everything should be good now. I apologize for the inconvenience!

Now this was a fun show (aside from intermittent mic problems, a few near-fights, and a visit by the Fire Marshal). I finally got to check out Mother of Mercy after having just missed them at at least 3 shows in the past. The Mongoloids put on an entertaining show as always and apparently the cops were captivated by the set. Mark Porter and friends, under the name Sick People, were the special guests and played 8 classic NYHC songs. Due to the large turnout, the cops forced a lot of people to wait outside (including myself) just before Sick People were set to play. Luckily, they ended up letting everyone back in part way through the set.

Well, not really a new direction. My New Year's resolution is to film more local/up and coming bands. To start things off, I'm posting the last stuff I filmed in 2008--which was Mindset's record release show on December 28th. Both Hostage Calm and Right Idea also played that show. These bands are extremely hard working and are gaining some much deserved attention. I recommend checking all of them out if you're looking for something with a positive message.

There couldn't have been a better show to close out the year. Many thanks to Joe Hardcore for putting on yet another memorable show. The Cro-Mags played close to 50 minutes and every second of it ruled. From the opening basslines of "World Peace" to the "Seekers of the Truth" surprise, the crowd didn't let up--and neither did the Cro-Mags. Check out the footage and spread the word. Also, stay tuned for a massive update in the next week or two.

UPDATE: Footage of Death Threat has just been added. (1 January 2009)

I'd like to say a few words on something that got me thinking at the show. Just because you are filming "the official DVD" for a band does not warrant more respect from me. I respect all filmers and photographers equally and know damn well to stay out of their field of view. If I happen to get in their way I expect them to nudge me (as I would certainly do to them). Are you "filming the official DVD for the band"? Great, I heard you the first time and I'll stay out of your way like I told you. There's no reason to condescendingly reiterate that in an attempt to belittle my purpose for filming the show. My work is neither more nor less important than yours. Do everyone a favor and check your pompous, insolent attitude at the door; it has no place in hardcore.