Band: Selfish Act
From: Buffalo, New York
Their formation story:
(Griffin Coyne, guitar): "Selfish Act was first an idea that [bassist] Conor [Kennedy] and I had while playing in a now defunct pop-punk band together. We realized that we both loved hardcore and wanted to get more involved in the Buffalo hardcore scene, so we brainstormed some people who may be a good fit. Conor worked with [vocalist] Owen [Jones] and knew he was a solid vocalist, making it an easy decision.
"We had both met David [Wagner] at a show through a mutual friend and he was the perfect choice for a drummer. Lead guitar was a more difficult endeavor, as we originally had this guy who wanted us to play radio rock, do coordinated backflips, and the classic guitar swings, but he thankfully ended up being a flake and we reached out to Josh [Link].
"Josh really rounded us out, as he is an amazing guitarist and is into much more musically-complex music than most hardcore, so we have a secret weapon for when we need it. From there, our pal Jorden Cudzillo from Juggernaut helped us by sticking us on a show with World on Fire, Hold Out, and Scarfold and we've been running ever since."
Their sound in their own words:
"Our band benefits from having very musically diverse (hardcore wise) influences. I am a big fan of '80s/'90s hardcore like Sick of It All, Gorilla Biscuits, Slapshot, and so on, David is big into heavy '90s and early ‘00s stuff like Integrity and Hatebreed, Conor loves Trapped Under Ice and Have Heart.
"Owen is a newcomer to hardcore and really digs Knocked Loose and Year of the Knife, and Josh is more of an Avenged Sevenfold/big metal fan than a hardcore guy—which explains a lot of the shredding and what not that you hear. With that being said, our sound is an amalgamation of all these different styles."
Latest release info:
"This release, Promo ‘24, came about when we were approached by our friends in Juggernaut who asked about doing a physical-only split to be put out on Mike Jeffers’ Classic Core Records soon. With that, we took our contribution to split and set it up as a digital promo to give people an idea of what to expect from us in the new year. The recording was done with Spaced’s John Vaughn, who was a ton of fun to work with and gave us some great suggestions along the way.
"For the songs, we decided to rework the first song we ever wrote 'Takehold' and turn it into 'Fairweather,' which captures some of the ideas we had for the original, but represents the songwriters that we have grown into in the months since 'Takehold' was first written. Musically, 'Fairweather' is a huge nod to the straight-forward, rhythmic and dance-y hardcore we wrote when the band started. Some will notice that our demo and our new songs, to be released later in 2023, are much heavier, but we wanted to make sure to hit on the full span of our spectrum.
"In addition to 'Fairweather,' we recorded a cover of Chokehold’s 'Conditioned.' Chokehold was a huge influence on both David and I, and once we pitched the song to the rest of the band, everyone was excited. Chokehold is a band that not only captured my attention musically, but their progressive and leftist themes are things that heavily informed me as a young adult and continue to today."
Future plans:
"Our plan is to spend the Spring doing as many out of town shows as possible. We just returned from playing Montclair, New Jersey and Baltimore, Maryland, and had a blast getting out and seeing new places. We have future dates in Detroit, Baltimore, DC, and central Pennsylvania, and Southern Ontario planned, with more to be added soon.
"We also just wrapped up the recording of a 6-song EP. that we will send out to labels and hopefully release in late Spring or early Summer. From there, we want to tour as much as we can."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"Buffalo has so many amazing bands, here are a few of our favorites, although we can never fully capture them all: Juggernaut, Jeweltone, Spaced, Fatal Visions, Hold Out, K-Hole, World on Fire, Old Ghosts, Final Declaration, Pure Heel, Healer, Bad Blood, Smash N Grab, Auto-Ignition, Kill Uncle, Monomaniac, and more."
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Selfish Act on social media: Instagram
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