Sean McCann is very much an unsung hero in the hardcore underground.
He’s played in a lot of great bands, most notable drumming for Most Precious Blood. But he also currently screams for Omega Glory and drums in Herjaza, and has played in Cattepress, Celebrity Murders, Cable Car Theory, Big Wheel, and Murdock throughout the years.
Sean was recently diagnosed with ALS, aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and is now on a path that requires a very different sort of fight out of him. He’s not one to make himself the center of attention, but it’s important for us to know the circumstances of one of our own.
He was gracious enough to answer a few questions I had for him, but more importantly this interview is to raise awareness about ALS and Sean’s battle. He’d never ask us to, but there are ways to help Sean along in this.
After the interview, there are links to different ways to support him. Just consider how much he’s given to us, as both a musician and a military veteran, without ever asking anything in return.
You’ve played in some influential bands across your decades in hardcore. What’s the biggest idea or thought you’ve taken away from all the music and touring and friendships?
Being in a band taught me that hard work pays off. I started playing drums at the age of 13 and toured the world before I was 21. I learned what it was like to go without. I learned how to deal with being hungry, being broke, being thousands of miles away from home without a place to sleep, not speaking the language and still figuring it out.
When your family isn’t there, your bandmates are the ones you lean on for love and support.
You’re quite the musician overall, from drumming in Most Precious Blood to screaming in Omega Glory. What’s it like to be on such different ends of the performance spectrum.
It’s definitely easier drumming because I have massive pieces of equipment in front of me and it allows me to be separated from the crowd, plus nobody pays attention to the drummer. With singing, learning how to interact with the audience is the hardest part. Artie White (Milhouse, Indecision) once told me that I shouldn’t talk to the crowd the same way I talk to my idiot friends from Staten Island.
Basically, it was him telling me I’m a terrible frontman, which is totally accurate. So in short, being behind a drum set is way more comfortable than fronting a band. Luckily, I’m currently sharing vocal duties in Herjaza with my friend Frank. He can do the crowd work and I’ll just scream.
What’s the wildest, craziest, and/or most terrifying thing you experienced on your? Give us the goods!
Most Precious Blood was on tour with another band that was notorious for being tough guys and hard partiers. They had a reputation for violence and their fans were as terrifying as they were. Every night on tour there was a fight in the crowd and the guitar player would take any drug that was handed to him while he was on stage. He would stop playing, swallow a handful of pills and continue on like nothing happened.
That being said, one night after a particularly violent show, I found myself alone with the guitar player while loading equipment into the van. He looks down at my arm, and notices a Lord of the Rings tattoo I have. It was elvish and he pointed at it. Me, being a giant nerd, was waiting for some ridicule or snarky comment but instead this violent, drug-taking individual, translated it perfectly word for word.
I stood there shocked and he then invited me into his van to show me something. I was both terrified and intrigued and reluctantly followed him. He opened the door and invited me in and said, sit on the bench. He turned his head looking out of both sides of the van to make sure no one was coming, then pulled out a small trunk from under the bench.
At this point I had no idea what was going to happen next. Was he going to offer me drugs? Pull out a ball gag? I had no idea what to expect. He opened the lid of the trunk and inside was Dungeon & Dragons, and other assorted role playing games. He looked at me with the biggest smile and said, any time you want to just chill and play D&D or talk Tolkin, let me know, I think it would be fun.
I smiled, nodded, and replied sure man, anytime. He then pulled out a knife, held it to my throat and told me that if I ever told anyone about this, he’d kill me. I believed him and avoided him the rest of the tour. I was glad when the tour was over and I never told anyone about this story.
READ MORE: A Guide to Current Bands Inspired by 2000s Hardcore
Of all the music you’ve been part of, which release(s) are you most proud of and why?
I played on a record called The Killing Plan by The Dying Light. It was the most challenging record, musically, that I’ve ever had to play on. It was with Brandon Thomas, drummer of Ripping Corpse, Joe Cappizzi, guitarist from Cattlepress, and Brandon Diaz guitar player from Hemlock and Ceremonium.
They were the most intimidating group of musicians I have ever played with and that album pushed the limits of my abilities. As a musician it’s probably my proudest moment.
The ALS diagnosis being what it is, how if at all had your focus in life changed?
I don’t think it’s changed at all. I think I’m handling this diagnosis better than the people who love and care about me. When I was in the military, I learned how to adapt and overcome any obstacle that was thrown my way.
I’ve learned to adjust and will continue to adjust until I can’t anymore.
What would you like people to most understand about this path that you must travel now with ALS?
I want people to understand that it’s very easy to make excuses especially when things seem hard and insurmountable. People have a choice to wake up everyday and get after it or stay in bed and feel sorry for themselves as to why their life didn’t turn out the way they wanted it to. I still have the ability to get up and do the things I love and I don’t take that for granted.
To close this out on a musical note, in your opinion, what is the most underrated hardcore band? Any era.
One of the biggest honors of my life was filling in for the band Serpico from Staten Island. Although I was only in the band for a very short time, I was privileged enough to do a 7” and go on a European tour with them. They were the first punk/hardcore band I had ever seen live and they paved the way for every single band from Staten Island to go across country and around the world.
They never got the credit they deserved when they were around or after they broke up. If it wasn’t for Serpico, we wouldn’t be doing this interview. There’s also another person named Phil Cadaver. He’s been in many bands, most notably New Rose and The Blame, and to me, he's one of the most important people in the hardcore scene and his contributions are criminally underrated.
What’s one movie people need to watch?
It would be easy to pick from a long list of pretentious movies that most hardcore kids would put in their top ten but everyone needs to see It’s a wonderful life. There’s nothing cynical about it. It embodies the best of humanity and what we’re capable of when it comes to helping others in need.
It very much reminds me of what I’m going through right now and how much the hardcore community and beyond have lent a hand to me while I’m dealing with my diagnosis. I would never compare myself to George Bailey, I’m a flawed human and I’ve made my share of mistakes, however, regardless of my short comings, I have been loved and supported unconditionally. Plus, I love Christmas movies.
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Links to help Sean offset his mounting medical bills:
GoFundMe
Ron & Dave’s Tattoo in Staten Island (a portion of all gift certificate purchases will be donated to Sean)
Omega Glory merch store (all profits from orders are donated to Sean)
Tagged: celebrity murders, herjaza, omega glory
