I would like to introduce you to Raised Wrong, a new band comprised of veterans from the hardcore community.
The quintet features vocalist John Pettibone (Undertow, Himsa, Heiress), guitarist Ryan Donoghue (Ensign, Staring Problem, Born Annoying), drummer Ryan Murphy (Undertow, Ensign, Ten Yard Fight), and bassist Dave Itow (Welcome to Your Life, Berthold City, No Plan), so yeah, your attention should be undivided.
Rather than blabbing on about the new outfit, I spoke with Itow about the genesis story behind Raised Wrong, and their forthcoming debut EP. I'm also honored to present the premiere of the band's first song, "Ends," for No Echo readers to check out. Long live hardcore music.
Hey Dave, to set the table here, I'm curious how the four of you guys knew each other and your shared connections throughout the years.
This band is based on our brotherhood as friends. Obviously, Murph and Pettibone have known each other since basically the beginning of Undertow. Kenz met Murph when Kenz joined Ensign in 1997. I met Kenz and Murph later that year when they came to the West Coast for a few shows around New Years.
Kenz met Pettibone when he was on the East Coast and working for Ensign as their tour guy. I don't know when I exactly met Pettibone but I think it was about the same time. But we basically all have been good friends ever since.
Time and distance never mattered to us. We all treat each other like family. There is a fifth silent member too. Jere is just part of the band no matter what he says.
How did Raised Wrong come to be?
The idea of us all being in a band together has been a running thing for probably 20 years now. We always talked and joked about quitting our lives and just going on tour together. The Indecision Records 30th Anniversary show last year really triggered us actually doing Raised Wrong for real.
Playing the Undertow set together at that show was the push we needed to get us going. We all loved playing on stage together and after that set we really just kicked it into high gear to finally get it all done. Being all over the country sucks but with modern technology it makes it easy to stay in touch and get ideas going.
We're premiering "Ends," the first track from the EP. How would you describe the Raised Wrong sound?
The sound is a bit all over the place. So there are two sides to the record. Side K written by Kenz and Side M written by Murph. Kenz had had some of his song ideas for about 10 years in some shape or form. He has a more skate punk hardcore set of songs with some heavy driving parts. Imagine Tragedy and the Third Degree in a blender.
Murph has been working on his for like 5 years. He has a more fast hardcore style. The parts have all these nuances. It's hard to get where his influences are.
With the members living in different states (California, Washington, New Jersey, Missouri), tell me a bit about the writing process and how it all worked.
Murph, Kenz, and I finally got in a room and starting working. With all three of us we got to mold the songs into what they had always wanted them to be. Then Pettibone got in the room and did what Pettibone does. He added so much power and energy to the songs. It really blew our minds.
Lyrically, he writes a lot from dark places: losing friends/mentors, being angry at the world.
We took all of it to the mythical [engineer/producer] Paul Miner. He has been friends with all of us forever and it was the first name on our list to record. He took what we had and made it sound even better.
Kenz then came up with a layout idea to mock up the old Profile Records singles release sleeves. [Indecision Records owner Dave] Mandel helped us figure it all out and he got into the nitty gritty like making the indecision logo on the label look exactly like the original profile logo. It is pretty awesome.
I take it that it was important for Mandel to be involved with the band and release?
We are life long Indecision Family. There was no other label we could think of doing it on. Mandel has handled almost everything that all of us have ever recorded. Undertow, Ensign, Staring Problem, Heiress, Welcome to Your Life, etc. He is family to all of us and Indecision is our home without having to say anything.
READ MORE: My All-Time Favorite California Hardcore Bands, by Jesse Barnett (Stick to Your Guns)
What’s the plan for Raised Wrong outside of the record itself?
We already are planning on recording again next year. Our first mission is to play a show in the city that each member lives in. Seattle, Jersey Shore, and St. Louis. But we are starting with OC at Programme and San Diego on in December.
We're playing with old friends like Death by Stereo, Crashing Forward and Living Eyes. Hopefully we can get to the rest of the cities next year. We will see what the happens after that.
This project must feel so satisfying to pull off, especially since you've flirted with the idea so many years ago.
We are four good friends who finally got our shit together and made a record that we all love a lot. The fact we finally got it done and ready to come out to the world, sparked life into everyone involved, and we want more now.
On a personal note, this has been a dream project for me. Making this EP with these dudes has been my favorite thing I have ever done.
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Raised Wrong will be out December 6th via Indecision Records.
Tagged: raised wrong, undertow
