Jem: “I love this feeling of being the little ninja learning from the sensei!”
Scott: “On the reverse, think of me (laughs). I’m just a fucked-up kid from Buffalo. That’s a place with a history in hardcore, but not a big one like New York City. And I’ve been able to go to Australia seven or eight times. That’s like a miracle in itself, not to just be able to see the world, to experience people and their cultures, but to travel into all of those dirty hardcore clubs and meet people like you. If I didn’t appreciate that and try to give back, I’d be a real piece of shit!”
Jem: “Terror have been one of our biggest spiritual influences since day one. Hardcore literacy was so low when we formed that people looked at us and thought we were a metalcore band or just metal. We wanted people to know that the way we think, the way we act is hardcore. That’s why our motto is ‘SPEED HARDCORE’. We’ve followed an example you set. So, who were your influences?”
Scott: “Are we talking frontmen, or bands?”
Jem: “Anyone who influenced you to be the way you are and think the way you do!”
Scott: “First up, home base, Buffalo, New York. One of our best-kept secrets is Zero Tolerance. I used to worship their singer Mark [Bellanca]. Expanding out, Freddy Madball is such a good frontman. Jamey Jasta from Hatebreed, too. Rabies from Warzone. These are the people I see onstage and see the energy I want and how I want to talk to people. But I don’t just look backwards. I look forwards, too. Ben Cook from No Warning, Justice Tripp from Trapped Under Ice, Daniel Rosen from Bitter End, those guys remind me that it’s not just about what’s happened before, it’s what’s happening now. At the end of the day, I could name a million different people!”
Jem: “It’s so interesting to think of all those different generations of hardcore, but how Terror still feel like the quintessential hardcore band. I looked it up because I was curious, when did Terror first play the UK? And that was in 2003! What do you remember from that tour?”
Scott: “It was interesting. I had been in Despair and Buried Alive. I had a little experience of – as much as I hate this word – ‘success’, but Terror took off so fast. We were getting tours. We were getting shows. Lowest Of The Low [2003 EP] had been out for about a year and we got a call asking if we’d like to come to Europe to support Biohazard. Fuck yes, we did. But there was no UK on that tour. My friend Rob Franssen from Born From Pain hit me up to ask if we wanted to do some shows with them in the UK, so we came over and got in a van. It was such an exciting time because it was our first time playing every city. Even if there were just, like, 50 kids, it was their first time seeing us. Nowadays, you’re thinking, ‘When’s our set time?’ ‘Why is our logo smaller than this other band’s on the flyer?’ Hardcore has become such a business. Back then, I didn’t want to know. I didn’t care about being backstage because I wanted to be out there watching every band!”