The temperature read 94 degrees on the thermometer. I was wearing blue jeans, a black t-shirt, a hat, and non slip steeltoe work boots. It was a friday night at Texas Roadhouse in Greenville, North Carolina. Before you say anything, blue jeans are part of the uniform were required to wear. For some reason I accepted the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour at 20 hours per week. I guess I was desperate for keg passes and weed money.
I remember seeing Cameron Gurkin working the front and recognizing him from East Carolina University campus or maybe a class we took together. We made small talk and he was pretty much the nicest dude ever. I saw him play with a few hardcore/metalcore bands back in the day and we hung around some of the same people. I remember seeing a band called Acirema at the Tank in downtown Greenville.
I chugged an OG Four Loko after a heavy trip to the salad bar and tried to dance at this place as a plastered underage teenager. I spewed my salad and the Four Loko all over all four walls and maybe the ceiling of the disgusting mess of a restroom at the venue. Good times.
Fast forward to a few months ago I heard his band Super Reg somewhere around downtown Raleigh. I think someone showed me their stuff on Bandcamp or maybe just a voice memo recording. I can’t remember anything past yesterday.
I finally caught up with Cameron over the web a few weeks ago and he told me Super Reg would be releasing some new stuff this month. Below I have an interview with Alex from Super Reg.
Please Introduce yourself!.
Hello No Echo, I’m Alex and I sing in Super Reg. We are a punk/hardcore band from Raleigh, North Carolina.
What other bands are you playing in at the moment?
Super Reg is the only active band currently. We have all played in local bands for years, most recent/note worthy being The Ethnographers and Handsome Foxes.
Tell me about the new Super Reg record.
It's real good time. We wanted to lean into some more rock influences but, keep it rooted in punk and aggression. I think we did that, and I hope people think it’s as fun as we do.
What is your favorite city to play? Least favorite?
I mean I’ve never been in a band popular enough to have a favorite city to play so, from that stand point I guess nothing beats Raleigh. Least favorite city to play I can safely say is a tie between New York and Fayetteville, different sides of the same shit ass coin.
What kind of messages do you get from fans of the band on social media?
I don’t know if their fans but, I like talking shit on IG. Any reaction I can get out of people is always fun. The spicier the take the better.
What is your favorite Botch song?
None of them.
Tell me about a really heavy time in your life.
I mean, I’ve dealt with heavy stuff relative to my personal life but, nothing extraordinary. I wouldn’t place very high in the suffering Olympics though; my AC has gone out a few times and that was hard. Our guitar player, Cameron, is getting chemo for testicular cancer at the moment so, that really fucking sucks.
Describe your childhood and how you got to where you are now as a person.
1989 was a good year but, it’s been up hill since.
Who are some of your biggest influences?
Anyone who does what they do with style and their own sense of self.
What got you into music?
What got me into playing music is the physicality of it, like playing a sport. I have somewhat of a jock mentality that I bring to the band. I hate writing music, I hate practice, I hate recording, all I enjoy doing is playing live. This made punk and hardcore a good fit for me, I think.
What got you into hardcore?
Like most angsty teens, I hit the nu metal/punk/metal check points until I ran into Hatebreed. From there it was reading linear notes, revolver, and scouring myspace for new bands that sounded like that.
Over time, my tastes became more eclectic. I pride myself on being the only Youth Crew head in my immediate group of friends. If you’re reading this and you want to talk about why Betrayed is the best Todd Jones band, I’m here for you.
Tell me about a time where hardcore saved your life.
Hardcore didn’t save my life. If anything, it’s come closer to ruining it.
Describe your scene and community.
As of late, the North Carolina scene seems very chill. Feels like being in a high school lunch room but, everyone is a freak ass weirdo. Less hardcore stereotypes and more of a homogenized group of freaks that makes for a very non-threatening easy-going time at gigs.
Kids are still going off for bands and having a great time, but less outright violence and more fishnet stockings.
Tell me about a time where hardcore risked your life.
Being at The Brewery between the years of 2004–2011. I didn’t feel personally at risk but, the last Have Heart show there was an all timer. Chaotic, lots of energy, a tasteful amount of violence. *chefs kiss*
What is your favorite NC band? What is your favorite band otherwise?
Favorite North Carolina bands are Magnitude, Ends of Sanity, and Fading Signal. I think those bands really excel at what they’re doing. Not sure I have a favorite band overall but I can say I basically only listen to Trapped Under Ice and Meg Thee Stallion these days.
What do you like to do outside of play music?
Outside of music and work, I spend my free time training Muay Thai lately. Matt is an avid fisherman. Heath is a man about town. Cameron goes to chemo.
Fuck, Marry, Kill: Pizza, Tacos, pasta..
Kill pasta. Fuck Pizza. Marry Tacos. A question for you, if you could only eat one for the rest of your life which would it be, PB&J or Grilled Cheese?
What is your favorite split?
When Kim left Kanye.
What is your favorite venue to play?
The Brewery was the GOAT. Now it’s probably School Kids. Local 506 would be my current answer but, it’s in Chapel Hill and I hate that place.
Anyone you'd like to shout out?
I’d like to shout out our distinguished colleague Dylan Jones, for booking almost every single goddamn show we have ever played. He keeps shit popping in North Carolina these days. Shout out to Kayla for snapping pics of us and every band that comes through.
Shout out to Scottie P. for still being alive and putting us on back in the day with all our old bands. Probably wouldn’t still be doing this without the work he put in. Lastly, shout out to any other old heads who are still in it for the love of the game.
Anything else you want to tell No Echo's readers?
Be kind to each other or I’ll fucking kill you.
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Hit the Super Reg Linktree to find all of their social media pages.
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Tagged: super reg
