We first met Pain Begins on No Echo last year when the Cincinnati hardcore band had just released their debut demo. Things have been moving along well for the quintet since then, releasing their debut EP, Tired of Being Alive, earlier this year.
Speaking with No Echo today, guitarist Brett Alexander says Pain Begins' only lineup change has been welcoming bassist Ricky, who stepped in after longtime member Tony stepped away to focus on family and other responsibilities. "Our former bassist, Tony, just had some life things going on and had to step away, no bad blood or anything there," Alexander tells No Echo. "He's still our guy."
Tired of Being Alive came out through The Caller Is in the House—the same label that put out their first two demos on cassette. The core of the band is unchanged, but Alexander says their songwriting has become more focused. "I think we've refined our sound quite a bit and cut some fat out when it comes to structuring our music," he says. "We're not aiming to rip a certain sound—just going for pure aggression and what we want to hear in our music."
A standout on the EP is "The Noose," a track that draws directly from vocalist Christian's own experiences. Alexander notes that Christian handles all the lyrics, pulling from his life for inspiration.
The song looks back on an incident about 16 years ago. Christian recalls picking up what looked like an abandoned gun while walking home past a Waffle House in Covington after a party. Moments later, police cruisers surrounded and arrested him. "It makes me think it was some kind of bait," Alexander says. The broader song also explores growing up in poverty and the struggles that came with it.
Alexander found hardcore early, drawn in by skateboarding and punk compilations. "I got into hardcore when I was like 11 or 12," he says. "Aside from finding stuff from playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, my dad gave me some of the '90s Punk-O-Rama compilations."
Gorilla Biscuits, Agnostic Front, Madball, and Black Flag were early favorites, before he started exploring newer hardcore bands. Closer to home, he still holds Born as Ghosts in especially high regard. "They're probably my favorite all-time Cincinnati hardcore band," he says, while also shouting out scene veterans Suffocate Faster and Suicide Pact.
After more than 20 years in hardcore, Alexander is still searching for new bands. "When I was younger, I was just hungry to keep discovering more and more of the genre," he says.
"Nowadays, I know what I do and don't like, but I'm always trying to scratch that itch of finding a new band I dig and getting in on the ground floor. Watching bands grow and flourish into something special and being there from the start is amazing."
As far as future plans for Pain Begins, weekend tours are the most realistic option as the band balances work and family, with a September run through Detroit, Illinois, and Cincinnati on the horizon. "We're just going to keep playing shows here and there," he says, "but the main focus is writing for our next release."
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