Interview with Joey from Apex Predator
Get to know Joey from Apex Predator :)
Timely is not something I am exactly awesome at but I try my best to focus on the act of getting around to things as being sufficient. As a millennial I know I am stricken with an avoidant nature that is certainly maddening for everyone who for some reason relies on me for things. Big procrastinators us millennials so I try my best to show patience with everyone that takes forever to make good on things in regards to me in the hopes that sort of grace will be reciprocated. Whether it is or is not, at the end of the day that's not up to me so I can only appreciate when it is and try to forgive when it isn't. That being said I am extremely forgiving of myself when I suffer from my own procrastination. I feel like this was the best round about way to say that I meant to do this weeks ago closer to when the 2nd press of the Apex Predator 12" went live but that clearly didn't happen so like most things I set my mind to I got around to it eventually. There is also a really sick and stupid shirt in the store from them so yeah buy it or look at it or ignore it completely who gives a shit.
The following is a conversation I had with Joey Mora from Apex/Gag/Total Power Exchange/Crawlspace about a smattering of topics.
This was painstakingly transcribed from my flip phone while listening to the new Squint LP, Avail 4am Friday and a Jimmie Rodgers record I picked up in New Orleans.
LDB: Where are you from and what do you do?
JOEY: I'm from Olympia Washington but been in Seattle for ten years. Will claim Seattle forever. What do I do? I have positioned my whole life to play in hardcore bands. Besides that I am a screen printer, I am a "graphic designer" and huge movie fan. I have a thousand hobbies and fill my time with as much as I can. Sleep is the enemy.
LDB: What all bands are you currently playing in and rank them? Interpret rank any way you like
JOEY: 1. Total Power Exchange. Newest band so I'm still in the honeymoon phase but it's all my favorite genres of hardcore converging.
2. Apex Predator. Most active band and most fun to play live with. I prefer playing bass to any other instrument, there is something to say about a room of people spinkicking and a stage full of people singing along.
3. Crawl Space. Writing process is the most fun. A constant question is, what would Straight Ahead/Poison Idea/SSD/Agnostic Front do? Mason our drummer, Mike the bassist and Steve the singer create a safe space to make everyone feel comfortable saying the most insane thing they have ever heard.
4. GAG. Only ranking lowest because it's the hardest band to be in and do. Adam and Jeff live outside of Washington so practice is hard. Also 3/5's of the band makes me wish I had two seatbelts when I rarely wear one in general.
LDB: This all makes sense to me. What do you think makes the PNW area so special? It's always seemed to me in a similar way to the midwest like you all had to build a strong local in order to make up for how hard it is for anyone outside of California to make it to you. I feel like that may be the obvious answer but if there is more I would love your perspective on that? Much like the midwest it seems like everyone in one band also has to be in every band.
JOEY: All of us are in so many bands partially because for a long time no one was starting bands and we needed more. Another reason is because we love hardcore of all genres. I've always been a guy who plays in a lot of projects of all kinds, a lot of us are like that.
At the end of the day we greatly appreciate touring bands coming and we will do everything we can to support them but if they stopped we would still maintain and make PNW a dope place for PNW bands.
My friend Nate recently said the PNW was honorary midwest after basically having that same conversation. Very kind and appreciated complement. Often overlooked because of the proximity of other cities. Secondly only one area of the PNW ever had its shit together. Meaning you can have a great Seattle show but then Vancouver and Portland is butt cheeks. Cycle in and out those cities every couple years. But now everyone is about their business Spokane/Eugene/Bellingham have stepped up in a big way. Something I have to give Casey his flowers for spearheading is making the scene approachable for younger and newer kids interested in hardcore. Seems like a simple solution but for a while a lot of "hard" posturing and cliques made this a not fun place to be. We pride ourselves on, we refuse to not have fun. That's palpable and permeates our scene. Whether that means going apeshit while we play, joking around between sets or during sets. We will have fun and I think that can be contagious. Touring bands can sense that and sometimes leads to quick and close friendships. I do wanna point out we take our band seriously just not ourselves.
LDB: Is that Nate from Ohio? I think that's one reason why Apex immediately stood out to me. Watching you all in Edmonton, the energy was so inviting while playing very hard, aggressive and violent music. As the guy who tries to engage with the younger generations in my scene I appreciate how much Casey does that for yours. Have you ever had the suspicion that Casey might be an Imaginary friend simply because of how unlikely it is that he could actually exist? Sort of a David Finchers Fight Club meets Sonny from Monsters Inc situation?
JOEY: Yeah that's the one. Shout out all the Ohio homies and Delayed Gratification Records. That feeling was definitely mutual. The Louisville boys were instant friends. When I told Inclination my men wearing shorts opinion, half the band agreed and the other half immediately started defending shorts. It was all love though. We turned that Green Room into an Olive Garden. Casey is kind of opposite day Tyler Durden haha. Never really considered that but at many times I have questioned whether or not he's real that's for sure. Casey is like no person I've ever met and I don't think I will ever meet another person who can somehow register on every part of the spectrum at any given moment.
LDB: That Rejoice record is one of my favorites from last year. The DGR crew are good people. That green room hang in Canada is one of my favorite Inclination memories and I am still torn on the shorts debate. Speaking of controversial things and that weekend, the day after we met in Canada you were wearing a Foo Fighters shirt, now that some months have passed What is your opinion on the Dave Grohl scandal?
JOEY: Us Too, can't believe how many movies we were able to talk about in 48 hours. Can't believe Dave got mad at me for not having seen the most recent Mission Impossible movie. Which is fair. Inclination is family.
Gonna be honest I have no idea what the Dave Grohl scandal is, can you distill it down? I feel I can judge him accurately with a synopsis.
LDB: He had a baby with another lady that was not his wife and people got big mad about it. It really felt like some people needed a reason to hate the Foo Fighters but you can just hate shit you don't like without moralizing about it.
JOEY: I mean that's a bad look. I personally wouldn't do that but I also didn't write any Nirvana songs or the first two FF records so who am I to condemn his process? Imaging caring about this? Dave is getting his bag no matter what. I feel these Dave Grohl haters energy could be aimed somewhere more productive. I wonder if any of these people can do a pinch harmonic or watch best dunks on YouTube.
LDB: I believe anybody can watch best dunks on YouTube if they believe in themselves
JOEY: See this is why I love you and cherish your spirit. No matter the cost. We can all be best dunk watchers.
LDB: An Apex question I had for you is what does the lyric "Stealing and killing just to survive, killing and stealing just to stay alive" mean to you?
JOEY: Although I wrote the lyrics for a decent amount of the songs that is all Casey. All I can do is interpret how I would with any artist. But I know Casey really well and this must be a metaphor because I'm positive he's never stolen anything but my jokes and never killed anything but the vibe.
LDB: I saw Casey kill it with a tech deck on stage at LDB so I can confirm he can kill more than the vibe but I respect redundancy in HC and love him for that lyric.
JOEY: Casey giveth and taketh away the vibe. I suggest everyone take the time from their busy schedules to talk to him about RC cars/yoyos/ Tech Decks etc.
LDB: So I know you find Jordan Peterson to be interesting or at least entertaining. What is more shocking to you, that people somehow think his advice is meaningful? Or thast they take someone seriously who sounds like that when they talk?
JOEY: The fandom of Jordan Peterson is so interesting. Anyone I've ever met who is a legit follower and not just a masochist like me I've walked away speechless. Probably laughing but still. The same feeling applies to all of these conservative leaning individuals. Ben Shapiro, Alex Jones etc. Why do they all have such insane voices? Have you ever heard Tucker Carlson laugh? That's what the gates of hell opening sounds like I'm positive.
Meaningful advice or whatever you wanna call it is so funny. Starting with making your bed, wash your hands just bare minimum shit everyone would benefit from. And somehow you end up at "I eat red meat to cure my male seasonal depression? How does that happen?
LDB: It will never gel with me that people who are obsessed with birth rates, hyper masculinity, seed oils and crap like that look to these paragons of masculinity, a twerp with a unibrow, a dandy boy in a bowtie and a guy who wears split down the middle suits like he shares a closet with Harvey fucking Dent.
JOEY: Paragons? Seed oil? I got a pair-a-gonads filled with seed oil for these fuckin nerds. Morbidly, I still wanna talk to them though. No idea why but I wanna be in a "Shapiro owns lib cuck at horror convention" video. That's like Nardwuar for me.
LDB: On the subject of conspiracy theories last summer we both experienced the blockbuster Sound Of Freedom in theaters on more or less a lark, What are some of the takeaways you had from that? Did you see anyone cry? Did you laugh at any inappropriate points and were you the sole person laughing as I was?
JOEY: Dude, Sound Of Freedom. What an Olympic sport of trying to not get shot in a theater by a 60 year old concealed carrying avid facebook user. Containing my laughter was near impossible and the other 20 people in the theater were not pleased with me. The weeping grandmas around me were unbelievable. My take aways were mostly complete confusion over how anyone copuld make that movie with a serious face and how people could accept it as truth. The subject of human trafficking is a real ass thing but only wanting to look at the part where it's "defeated" is so unhelpful. Especially in this movie. A real pat on the back of "I helped stop this brutal issue by seeing a movie."
Not to get real with it but I feel that same thinking is applied to real events constantly and it's infuriating. These boomers def make excuses for the "weird uncles" and do Chinese accents top the staff at Japanese restaurants.
LDB: I think my favorite part was how often they reminded you that Tim Ballard just left his wife to take care of all those kids alone and they just included how absentee he is from the children he's actually responsible for. The ticket scam was so awesome though and I really respect a brazen grift. And it is incredibly aggravating to know nothing good will happen til all of these fucks drop dead.
JOEY: The absentee father aspect is handled so funny. You've never see a movie make the deadbeat dad a hero. The whole beginning where he befriends the pedo is so funny.
LDB: Dude that part fucking rocks. It's such an insane entry in the "shoot and cry" genre where he never actually shoots anyone but does watch a ton of CP and strangles a guy to death? I love that the movie people had to come forward to confirm that he has not actually killed anyone.
JOEY: The lore around both Jim Caviezel and Tim Ballard himself is fire. Amazing google search for anyone interested in him or societies lies.
LDB: Closing this out, what movies have you been stoked on recently? Old and new.
JOEY: I really emnjoyed Anora from last year.
Heart Eyes, gorey slasher with romantic comedy elements. Big fan of both genres that rarely mix so this was a surprise banger.
Y2k from my main man Kyle Mooney and The Substance definitely deserve a shoutout.
I just watched The Fan starring Robert DeNiro as an obsessed baseball fan who toys with Wesley Snipes and really enjoyed it. Directed by Tony Scott.
LDB: I haven't seen any of that crap but I am interested in Y2k especially from the Kyle Mooney angle. The Fan sounds sick I love a Tony Scott flick for sure. Heart Eyes looked like it could really go either way and be really sick or really whack so I need to check that.
JOEY: My guy, I know you will fuck with Y2k it was amazing. Whole theater going cuckoo bananas, great theater experience. Couldn't recommend Heart Eyes more, two reaons we gotta support comedy that isn't Marvel bs and this new wave of tongue in cheek horror is so fresh after years of family drama horror. Shout out Smile and M3gan.
LDB: Thanks for letting me bug you for this and thank you for your friendship Joey.
Is there anything you would like to chime in on that I didn't pick your brain about?
JOEY: I love you so much Tyler thank you for letting me be a part of this. Final words, go experience things in real life. Hardcore, movie, rave, time with loved ones, whatever you love do that because that's time well spent and looking at TikTok all day sucks ass, it's kinda fire for like 20-30 min tho not gonna lie. PNW gonna kee groinding this year. Go listen to Witness Chamber, End Of Dayz, Adipocere, and Skelm
I wanna thank Joey and the rest of the Apex guys. Be sure to check out all of Joey's other bands as well as Odd Man Out and Prim that feature members from Apex Predator also. I am sure I'm probably missing something but I wanna get this crap sent out so take Joey's advice and get out there and live your life.