The new Forced Down release Liberate compiles the essential early recordings from the San Diego hardcore band, available May 2, 2025, through Southern Lord. Remixed by Brad Wood and mastered by Brad Boatright, Liberate collects tracks recorded in 1989 and 1990, bringing back a sound rooted in idealism, anger, and a resistance to conformity. It marks the first time all of Forced Down’s material has been pressed together on vinyl, with a sea blue and a cloudy clear vinyl edition also available.
Liberate is a collection of songs that capture a specific moment in the San Diego hardcore scene, restored with care and presented without polish that would blur its rough edges. Forced Down’s urgency, resilience, and deeply personal touch are preserved intact, a living document of a band that fought to be heard on its own terms.
Today, we’re thrilled to give you a full listen of the album and a special track-by-track commentary, written from Rob’s firsthand memories, providing deeper insight into each moment the band lived and captured.
Forced Down began in 1989 as a project between Mike Down (Amenity) and Joey Piro (Pitchfork), later joined by Rob Base and Chris Spanninga of the Abyss.
Scott Bartoloni (Heroin) entered after the first 7” was released, and later, Josh Hernandez (Statement) replaced Spanninga on bass. The band recorded two 7″ records and a double 7″ (Stifle), plus the Texas single, before closing their chapter with a final show at the Che Café.
The mission of Forced Down was clear: to stand against the rigid, oppressive social structures of the time.
As the band expressed, “When what the individual stands for goes against the ideas of the mass, and is considered a threat to order, be it right or wrong—they are forced down.” The lyrics and energy across Liberate stay true to this idea, encouraging a life “on our feet” rather than “on our knees.”
After Mike Down’s passing, the original master tapes surfaced again. Rob Base recalled, “A few weeks before Mike passed, Mike and I were going through his garage and he showed me the master tapes. I didn’t think anything of it but it was good to see they survived.”
Southern Lord’s Greg Anderson later invited Rob to oversee the remixing. Despite some damage to the tapes, Brad Wood restored them, delivering a version that the remaining members felt honored the original spirit: “Joey, Josh, and myself are elated with the finished product. We are sure Mike would agree.”
This release is described as a true community effort among friends. Rob emphasized, “This release was worked on by friends… A Labor of Love and thank you to everyone for what they did to help get this out.”
Thematically, Liberate speaks to fighting stagnation, resisting societal pressures, and staying true to personal ideals. The commentary on each track reinforces this with personal stories behind the creation of these songs.
Thread
We would see Hard Stance start a show with a song without singing. I always of it as a build up of anticipation of a powerful show to come. I missed practice one day and the guys wrote this song as an intro to our shows. I love Josh’s bass harmonics, and the feedback Mike and Scott created at the beginning. The name came from the threads of a screw or a bolt which ties into the song Tap and Die.
Tap and Die
I remember Mike and Joey working on this song at practice. Joey had a ton of ideas during song writing which he would hum out parts or change the direction of the song. Those two worked extremely well together. Mike gave me a cassette of the song and I was going in circles trying to come up with lyrics. My friend Fish came over and we listened to the song. The first thing he said was “Hammer away “which gave me a starting point. I really like Joey’s drumming on this song. I think this song was a turning point for Forced Down where the song writing really took shape. Tap and Die was usually played right after Thread.
Time Without
Mike had a love for Led Zepplin since his childhood. I hear it plain as day in this song. This was a hard song for me to remember the lyrics when we played live. I messed this song up every time one way or another but was able to pull it off. Greg brought this song to my attention during the remixing because of the main riff. After listening to it again after decades, this song deserves more credit than I gave it. Mike stayed at the recording studio after we left for the night and worked on the guitar layovers. I’m not sure if Mike had everything planned out or if Joe, the recording engineer, helped with ideas. This song was my least favorite of Stifle at the time but now I feel it’s a banger.
A Cry For Truth
Mike had most of this song written with half the lyrics. Joey added another riff and the music was finished. It didn’t take long to finish up the lyrics and the song was complete.
This was the first song that Mike started to play solos since Scott joined on second guitar. The song starts with an acoustic guitar and ends with Josh playing the piano. During the remixes I asked Greg about vocals on an Engine Kid song “ Holes to Fight In”. Later in the week he sent me the final mix with the same effects on the first four words. I didn’t know what to think but it grew on me and I’m glad he did.
Another version of this song was released on Old World Records along with the song Texas.
Escape
I don’t remember how this song was written except that Mike had an idea that “Does anybody hear me?” be used in the last part. The lyrics were inspired by a sign a poster I would see at the Statement rehearsal space that said, “Music and words are not enough…..Take action”. The song was calling myself out on not doing something or not enough on shit I cared about.
I am always asked who is singing “ Does anybody hear me”. It was Mike. He and I had a conversation about Forced Down and he told me Escape was his favorite song. I am glad we were able to reconnect after many years and hang out like we used to. I think it’s a great song and carries a lot of weight on me.
Fucking Texas
I love this song. We wrote the music as a group and I didn’t have words for it yet. I took a copy of it on a road trip to Texas to visit my parents. I wrote down ideas as I drove straight through. I had the lyrics but needed to work out a few things. When we went to the recording studio, I told Mike I wasn’t 100 percent ready on this.
This was the last vocals recorded on the session and my voice was shot. After recording it I still hear some words that are out of the flow and could have been changed but it was already recorded. This song wouldn’t fit on Stifle and released on Old World with a different version of A Cry for Truth.
This song gave Mike and Scott plenty of room for solos and they took it. Great song.
Exit
We had some extra time at the studio and the guys decided to do an improv jam. Josh lead the way on this one. At the time Mike and Josh were playing in an improv band with Chris and Alex of Chain of Strength called Said. Exit was musically different but used the same free form style. I wasn’t there for this, but it turned out awesome.
Rise Recordings
Nothing
I used to go over to Mike’s house before Forced Down was a band and he would play this song. He and Joey were starting to jam but didn’t have the rest of the band yet. He had the chorus “All we ever needed was to be together, All we ever needed was each other” written. This was the second song we completed as a band in full. The song is about a girl I had a crush on and couldn’t think straight, wanting to get over it. We started to practice at Joeys house, the same room which Pitchfork used . Joey would always tell us not to touch Rick’s PA or he’ll get pissed. Truth be told, we used it all the time.
Never
I’m not sure where the metal influence came from, maybe Joey. We all listen to different styles of music. The guys always gave me a free pass when write lyrics. The Apartheid in South Africa was in full force at this time and I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
Mike was doing the End Racism shirts and it was something we all stood for. Greg told me Mike showed him this riff before we wrote this song and he loved it.
Forced Down
This was another song Mike would play for me before we formed. Mike had an idea that the lyrics would say “My____, was forced down”. The name of the song was completed before we went had a name for the band. Pipin joined us shortly after I did. A nod to the band SSD with their song Forced Down Your Throat. Over time Joey and I would call it Fluid Drive.
Rise
Mike wrote the main backbone of this song with the chorus “We Shall Rise”. Joey changed the break transition, and we stuck with it. This was the song that I realized Joey had a lot of musical contributions to our songs.
I was taking a history class at this time and the quote “It’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees” stuck with me. The “Rise” print is from a vintage counterculture magazine my friend had that he got in San Francisco.
