BANE release new song!

Noisey magazine has unveiled a new track from the farewell album of Massachusetts hardcore legends BANE! After announcing their final record, European and US tours, the band is teasing us before the actual release of “Don’t Wait Up”, to be released on May 13th! Listen to “All the Way Through” below, sing along and scroll down to read the full Noisey interview, giving you more insights on their final months of existence.

Lyrics:

they will try to take this from you

nothing that i can say will get you to listen
nor should it
it’s what makes youth so blissful
i did not wanna hear it either
but maybe just a warning?
and you can keep your eyes peeled for the signs
you will know them because it’ll be an adult
talking about your youth
while speaking in absolutes

they’ll tell you that you’re gonna level off too
that nothing stays all dreamy and breathless and bursting at the seems

does growing old mean growing strong enough
to kill you sentimental side
and set free all those little butterflies
from the cage that housed your beating heart?
i’d rather die than see them go
can’t wipe these pretty songs from my eyes

what broke and made you look up at the stars in the sky
and see only the stars
and the sky?

poison words prey on love-sick minds
sometimes i feel that they don’t even know they’re telling lies

Noisey interview:

Noisey: Here’s a question everyone will ask you: Why do you stop? And please don’t give us the answer you’re gonna give everyone else.
Aaron Bedard: Because we are fucking old and keep getting older. This is a young man’s game and it’s time to walk away before we really REALLY start to embarrass ourselves. 

Now that you’re about to split: Is there one secret you haven’t shared with anyone yet (anything that happened during your time as a band) that you feel it’s time to share with your fans now?
I’ve never listened to a single band’s demo or CD or seven-inch that they’ve come and given to me at a show. Your music has been stashed and hidden in the most amazing places all over the world. I always like thinking about the people who will eventually find them there. And many of your t-shirts…man, you don’t wanna know what I did with those. 

What are your future plans for after the band?
Honestly, I’m planning to face that crossroad when I get to it. It tends to be how I deal with most things that are difficult or daunting. I feel like I do my best work when my ass is to the wall. I’m gonna have to figure something out, that’s for sure. I’m skilled at nothing but hanging out, sleeping in, playing board games, eating snacks, fucking off, and thankfully, playing poker. Anyone looking to hire someone specializing in any of the above, holla at ya boy!

What are your day jobs?
I’ve never been quite clear on what some of them do. Dilly walks dogs. This winter I’ve been playing the seven card stud games at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun and crushing their buffets. 

What’s the most fucked-up thing that ever happened to you on tour?
I have this one image that I can’t shake. We did an AF tour and in Florida a bunch of Nazi skins came out and a full-blown riot broke out toward the end of their set. Huge maniac dudes running through the club with weapons, one of them had an actual sword. It was total chaos. People were inside trying to hold this huge metal doors shut as a bunch more of them tried to bust inside. I didn’t know where any of the guys in Bane were or if they were safe. But the image I can’t shake is this very big black security guy being dragged across the floor by his dreadlocks, he was covered in blood and all of his clothes had been ripped off down to his underwear. Cops got there shortly after. That feeling of helplessness I had watching this huge Nazi drag him off to who-knows-where. Hated that. 

Are any of you guys (still) straight edge? And what do you think of the whole scene?
Yeah me, Dilly, and Zach are still edge and have been since the jump. Our new bassist James Siboni also proudly flies the flag. I think you’d get very varied answers from each of us as to what straight edge means to us now and how we view the movement as a whole. It can be made up of some pretty ridiculous, petty and clueless individuals. Young kids screaming in your face about having it all figured out and then eight months later nowhere to be found, off doing the new cool thing. That’s just to be expected with any youth culture. It’s also what makes it sort of endearing. Young kids trying to cling to something that will help navigate them through tough times and a harsh world. Some come out the other side and are better because they found straight edge. Some honestly do look at it as a lifetime commitment to a certain path, a braver mindset and I think that’s beautiful. When it’s not necessarily about being a part of some larger group, but more about trying to make your life and decisions as sound as possible. 
I’m always psyched when I see young X’d up kids or bands claiming sXe. Am always curious what their path will be and if they’ll get as much good stuff out of it as myself and some of my friends. But again, you talk to Zachy or James and they’ll have an entirely different take on the whole subject

“Wasted on the Young” on your last record has been interpreted by some as criticism of the straight edge scene. Can you comment on that please?
Yeah as I just said above I think it can be a little silly to be 16 and talking like you have any fucking clue about what you’re going to be or believe for the rest of your life. But part of what’s so cool about being that age is there is absolutely no explaining that to them. They are destined to learn everything the hard way and that’s great.

When I wrote “Wasted” I was just struck with the thought of how when you’re a teenager you’re able to fall and bounce back a little bit easier, mistakes are more forgivable, lessons are there to be learned, so why not wile out a little bit? Try everything. Figure out what works for you instead of just blindly following along with the pack, claiming to believe a bunch of stuff ’cause you saw it on a t-shirt but have no real idea who you are or what you’re gonna stand for long-term, and then as you get older and become a little wiser about how the world works and the insane pressures it will throw at you, to “fall in line” maybe that’s when sXe becomes most useful and has the best chance of being something you can hold on to long term. 

Maybe not though. My best buddy told me, “Fuck that. sXe is for 16-year-olds. They are who the edge was created for and they’ll always be the flame that keeps it burning. And sometimes I completely see his point. 

What does your last record deal with lyric-wise?
Most of the songs have their own little subject. Like all the Bane records, it reflects where I am at that point in my life. Deals with what I’m going through and see around me. It’s really the only way I know how to write songs for the band. Last year, I had to deal with all of this coming to an end. I lost another loved one to suicide, my body is falling apart on me and many of the things that I have loved and kept me sane throughout the years are fading, decayed or nowhere to be found. 

I have to get ready to say goodbye to the thing that I loved most about my life. The best thing that’s ever come around is about to end after a really long ride. It’s hard to reconcile that but on Don’t Wait Up, you will see a guy really trying to. 

Have you noticed any remarkable differences between the scenes in Germany and the US? 
Sure. US kids dance better, stage dive bigger, and are way better at bitching and complaining like spoiled rotten little five-year-olds. Literally having no idea how lucky we have it and how thankful we should be. But damn do we produce better rappers and hardcore bands. (Not sure if there’s a connection there). In Europe, I am always struck with the sense that there is an actual community created to pitch in and do what it can to support the bigger picture. People seem more selfless and willing to help. (This is a pretty big generalization. I have absolutely met some shockingly shallow and two-faced people over there). Europe, we’ve been going there for almost 15 years now and we see MANY of the same faces…doing the shows, making bands food, driving the vans, being involved. That’s rare in the US. Real life seems to get in the way a little more readily over here. In Europe, for me, there is a more tangible sense that this scene… this movement is truly a life-time commitment. You’ll see dudes, hair all grey, still coming out and supporting bands and giving a fuck. Europe also wins for amazing cock-blocks and people worrying about everyone else’s business and making pretty amazing efforts in keeping the American boys from having too much fun over there. Who knows, maybe thats a carry over from the great war, but it was worth noting. Cooler buildings in Europe but way worse sneakers and soda choices.

What’s your founding myth?
I’m not exactly sure what a founding myth is. If you’re asking what we hoped to do and be when we started, I remember clearly a conversation with Dilly, who started the band as his own personal side-project of Converge, and we first and foremost wanted the band to be about how much fun hardcore can be when it’s spirited and high energy and you’re singing songs with choruses that make you wanna throw your finger in the air and that the 30 minutes when a straight up hardcore band is on stage can be so magical. It can give you that feeling of wanting to take on the whole world. That 30 minutes was everything to us and we wanted to try to pay tribute to that and have everyone who wants to to feel invited in. Not just the cool kids or the tough kids or whatever. We wanted to make a band for hardcore kids who loved it on the same teary eyed level that we did… and still do. 

Who were your main influences when you were kids? 
Youth of Today changed everything for me, the aesthetic the attitude, the energy on 10. No band has compared since. Minor Threat made it OK to not be all tough and hard all the time, and Burn took the live show and elevated it to something so dynamic, so mythical that I’ve been chasing just a fraction of that feeling for my entire run in Bane.

Will you be back? 
Me. I’ll be around. Bane will be gone for good. Come say goodbye before that becomes official.