We conducted an interview with Ian Geiger of Wilmington hardcore band OVERLOOKED on December 25th, 2011.
Thank you for taking this interview. Please, introduce yourself.
My name is Ian Geiger and I sing in OVERLOOKED. We are a hardcore band from Wilmington, North Carolina.
You come from Wilmington, North Carolina. Please describe your local music scene.
It’s up and down. We used to have crazy shows every weekend it seems like, but the lack of venues has really killed us as of late, but when there is a show, it’s pretty much always a good one. As far as bands though, things are really starting to pick up and it’s awesome. Our drummer and bassist play in another band who always has crazy shows called DIS and CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON (ex-NOURISH THE FLAME) is back together again, bringing a lot of the older dudes out to shows again. On top of that the DIY scene is starting to kick back up again, and this d-beat band no tomorrow is bringing all sorts of grind/crust bands into Wilmington. Bands that a lot of people never would have heard of or even bothered to check out if Chris and those guys hadn’t brought them here. All in all things here in Wilmington are steadily on the rise for sure.
What’s the worst aspect of living there?
That more of my friends don’t live here is really all. I love Wilmington, each of us love this place. Unfortunately me and our bassist work over an hour away, so as of late i feel like we aren’t around as much, but Wilmington will always be our home.
Where have you been traveling? What countries have you been to? Do you think this band will help you travel around the world?
We’ve been lucky enough to see the majority of the US so far, and I guess a little bit of Mexico even. Hopefully this year will see us into Canada and hopefully Europe, or anywhere else we can go. I don’t know if this band WILL help us go around the world, but I’d really like to hope that it would. So far I’ve been able to see parts of the US that I didn’t even think I would see in my lifetime, so anything beyond that is just an added bonus.
You are teaming up with ANOTHER MISTAKE for a split release on Twelve Gauge Records in early 2012. How do you know the band? How did you first met?
A friend’s label put out some of their releases and I checked them out and was pretty much blown away. Not many bands are trying to do what they go for, and it seems to coincide with our sound pretty well. I started talking to their guitarist Keith online and we sorta threw the idea around, then Twelve Gauge approached us about doing a split and it all fell into place. I’m really excited to be working with them, I think they really reflect what hardcore is about and seem to take a lot of pride in their scene which is awesome. We couldn’t be doing a split with a better band i feel like.
The split will be ready exactly for the Breast Fest 2012, to take place in your hometown. Are you excited for it? Please tell us some more about the fest, the cause and your thoughts about it.
I really hope the split is ready by then, that could go either way. But Breast Fest is a blast every year,. Our best friend Scottie Pisano puts it on, and Scottie is just the king of hardcore in North Carolina. 9 times out of 10 if there is a show in NC, Scottie had something to do with it. Breast Fest is a really personal thing for him, his mother passed away from breast cancer, so it’s not like he just decided out of nowhere to do a fest and throw some proceeds at a charity, this really means a lot to him so it makes the fest that much more meaningful as a whole. It’s gotten progressively better the past few years, and this year will be the best yet. In the past it was always in Raleigh which was cool, but it being in Wilmington now is just a dream come true. A crazy Wilmington show is unlike anywhere else, so i really feel like this will be the KING of crazy Wilmington shows.
Please name your inspirations. How many bands that inspire you have you seen live?
I don’t wanna speak for everybody in the band, but i know we take influence from all different kinds of music. Whether it be punk rock and hardcore, metal, hip-hop. We all love music and all have our own thing that we are into, so it naturally comes together when we write music. As far as who i have and haven’t seen live that influences me. I don’t even know if i can answer that, like I said we all take influence from so many different bands and musicians. Kind of a cop-out answer, but shit, it’s really all I can think to say.
What’s your opinion on today’s re-union “plague”?
It’s whatever to me honestly. I’m not one to judge what other people want to do. Sometimes bands just miss playing together. Sometimes the price is right. Like i said, it’s all whatever. If a band that people love wants to get back together and people get pumped on it, that’s awesome. I just hope that when bands do these reunions that it is all for the right reasons.
What is your top pick for a defunct band to reunite? (oh, sorry, all of them have already reunited [laughs])
THE SMITHS and NO WARNING, ideally. This is just on paper though, I don’t know if either of those would pan out as well as I think that they would in my head.
How many shows have you been playing so far?
In 2011 we played right around 100 shows, give or take. I’d like to play as many or more shows than that in 2012. Hopefully our schedules will allow for this.
Are you a sports fans, do you frequently physical exercise?
I love baseball and am a diehard Yankees fan. That’s about it. Lenny is into hockey and Jared pretends to like the Cleveland Indians, I think that’s it really. As far as excerise… naahhh [laughs].
What are you most looking forward to in the future as a band?
Touring more places that we have never been before. Going back to places that have always been cool to us. Putting out more records. Sust everything going on in general. I really can’t wait to put this split out with ANOTHER MISTAKE. Breast Fest this year will be fucking wild. Getting back on the road is really at the top of the list though, it’s what we set out to do with this band.
Feel free to tell people anything you want.
Shout outs to Jihad and Twelve Gauge Records, Brad’s Gang Records, Life To Live Records, all of our Atlanta friends. Listen to ANOTHER MISTAKE, FINGERS CROSSED, DOUBLEDEALER, THE BEAUTIFUL ONES, YOUNG AND IN THE WAY, BAD, VENIA, HARDSIDE, DIS, WITHDRAWAL, so many more. Support hardcore. NCHC lives.
