For almost 30 years, Brad Boatright has been one of the hardest working staples in the hardcore punk and independent music scene. Not only is Brad the mastering engineer and owner of the world-renowned studio Audiosiege in Portland, but he has played in many notable bands over the years such as From Ashes Rise, Deathreat, World Burns to Death, and many others.
He is fiercely dedicated to what he does and the level of craftsmanship in his music and engineering can only be summed up as “masterful." Working alongside some of the best folks in the audio world, Brad has a long history of hardcore punk under his belt and one notable side project that’s flown under the radar was No Parade, an underrated project from the early 2000s that needs way more recognition.
If you know Brad, you know he’s one of the best people in the independent music world who’s worked incredibly hard to get where he’s at. I’ve had the opportunity to work with Brad on some of my projects and besides being one of the best audio engineers in the business, he’s a great friend.
Hey Brad, thanks for taking the time to fill us in on some of your earlier work. As most folks may know, you're notorious for playing guitar and singing with From Ashes Rise along with being the owner and operator of Audio Siege there in Portland. Can you give a bit of insight on your involvement with No Parade? I wanted to ask if you could touch up on that history a bit and how it came about.
No Parade was a short-lived side project that we started back in the Nashville days, with Dave Atchison (the drummer for From Ashes Rise) on bass, Ryan Teetzen (then the bass player for From Ashes Rise) on guitar, our friend Elijah Wasserman on drums, and me on guitar and vocals.
I don’t recall the details of how it started, but Ryan and I were living together at the time, and we probably had the idea to do a more raw hardcore style band. That idea likely came to fruition after a practice got canceled or something.
I was also playing in Deathreat back then, and wanted it to be perceived as something other than another hardcore side project, so we kept the C# standard tuning that From Ashes Rise used, and tried to blend Scandinavian styles with American hardcore-specifically Youth Crew type stuff. It was a lot of fun.
No Parade seemed to fly a bit under the radar, and I feel that material needs much more recognition. It’s hard to think that was over 20 years ago, but back then, was there much of a push to get those records out and was this considered a one-off side project?
Things were so different back then, as we both know… press releases and the like weren’t that common, so we relied on reviews, word of mouth, and selling records on From Ashes Rise tours. We just really wanted to document the songs we’d written, and the recording process was always quite enjoyable.
No Parade had the signature Brad Boatright vocal delivery, but the music itself was more cut and dry hardcore punk, trimming the fat on intros and musical landscapes, was this the intention and was there an inspiration behind that?
Yeah, it was. Like I mentioned earlier, we kind of had that idea to blend d-beat with Youth Crew-type stuff. Ryan had the background in the latter, and Dave and I were into the European punk and hardcore so it was a natural fusion. And I guess, to us, at least, it seemed like a new way to do it.
No Parade had three releases, the first s/t tape (1999) and two vinyl releases from Partners in Crime Records; the first s/t EP from 2000, and the debut LP in 2001 entitled Ceaseless Fire. Did these fly off the shelves once the public knew who was involved, was there any other material or demos that may be floating around? (I believe I still have the tape you gave me)
Not at all. I don’t think the 7” or LP sold more than 1000 copies or so, and they’ve never been on streaming services. We had two songs recorded for a split with R.A.M.B.O., but that never ended up happening, and I have no idea where those ended up.
Outside of playing, give us some insight into Audiosiege and a bit of that back story.
Audiosiege is my studio, where I work as a full-time mastering engineer. I consider myself lucky to be able to do this for a living, and I really enjoy helping bands hone their sounds.
It was a natural evolution/progression over the years that led me here, as I’ve always been fascinated by the recording process, and learned a lot by experimenting during recordings and having a rapport with the talented engineers recording us.
Where does From Ashes Rise stand today and is the band still playing?
We’re technically still active, but haven’t played in a while now. It’s fine though, because we’re all very close. John, Dave, and I each have boys who are close in age, and they’re like brothers, so seeing those relationships develop is mind blowing. They’ve even played music together.
Unfortunately for me, though, I probably wouldn’t be able to play live the way we used to these days, as I’ve got some chronic back issues from the wear and tear over the years, making it difficult to even walk at times. Luckily my job keeps the yearning for music making at bay… somewhat, at least.
I always appreciate having a good chat with you, any additional thoughts?
Thank you so much, Andy! I’m stoked to talk about a band that was kind of a flash in the pan for us, but still a big part of our lives. Lifers for life, man… cheers!
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You can find out more about Brad and Audiosiege at this link.
Tagged: 2000s hardcore week, deathreat, from ashes rise
