Scared to Death: Reflection 07-11

   To easily put it, Scared To Death embody what Hardcore punk is to me, in its truest form, forget all the sub-genres. I remember Danny and Joey coming into my old work and wanting to print the covers for the demo(I still have one of the color prints thanks Danny!) and listening to the demo and being blown away and at the same time wishing I could play in a band this good. They were always the band to play pretty much every local show and that band that never brought any shirts to sell at shows. They did a weekend tour with Stress Relief which I was lucky enough to get asked to play bass for them, needless to say I was more than willing to except, Stressed To Death! When I finally heard Oil I was floored, that EP kills and I think it always will. I just wished they would of toured on it, oh well. Any way, Scared To Death will always be one band that I can look back on and remember how fun each show was.

Ethan Campo

R.I.P.

This was supposed to be in a zine I had planned on doing a long time ago, but one thing lead to another and I just never got around to it. I asked Danny and Miles some questions seeing as they were the 2 most promient members throughout the band's existence.

Scared To Death has been broken up for over 10 months now, looking back did you guys accomplish everything you wanted to as a band? If not, what were some goals you had hoped to achieve?

D: . I would have loved to have vinyl put out. It was planned for the last recordings. OIL! but art work was a big hassle for some reason and eventually it was announced that we were breaking up and vinyl wouldn't have sold if you didn't tour with it. Also I would have loved to tour more than just a few days here and there. I feel it something that would have happened had the band continued.

M: We did for the most part. Our main goals we're to write songs in a cut and dry hardcore style, play shows often, record, and tour. We played something like 65 shows, recorded three releases, and got out of town. We did about all of it except for really tour. Touring was the one thing we always struggled with getting together.

For people who don't know what lead to the Scared To Death breaking up?

D: Well I (Danny) moved to Portland and at this point Joey had already been out of the band for a long time and when we started the band it was a band with my best friend type of thing. So I felt it was just time to move on. I didn't see it continuing as I would have wanted it. It's not that I didn't like the band anymore. I miss it everyday, but I just felt that it was time to move one and create new stuff with different people. So stay tuned. haha

M: It was a number of things, but when it comes down to it all, it was just time for us all to move on to other things. Right after recording Oil in the summer of 09, Danny moved to Portland, I started two new bands, and Curtis and Dylan continued on with their other projects. We had planned to put Oil out as a 7 inch and tour on it, but with all the other things going on in our lives it just didn't come together.

STD went through many lineup changes through the course of the band, what lineup to each of you was the best one?

D: The original line up will always be the best. It was the most natural thing I've ever been a part of. We clicked so well. No matter how many bands I may or may not be a part of from here on out nothing will ever feel as organic as Miles, Joey, Ethan and me getting together in the garage in C.V. and becoming Scared to Death

M: The starting line up of Joey, Ethan, Danny, and I was my favorite. The chemistry was perfect. Danny and I had each others best friends in the band. Joey being Danny's best friend, and Ethan being mine. We were the most productive in writing with this line up too. The later lines were musically tighter and played more shows, but the chemistry was different.

Between each of you what was your favorite show you played and why?

D: To me it was one of the Reno shows. We played with Punch and it was just Amazing. I can't explain it but just trust me. Also we were very fortunate to have played Set it Straights last Gilman show and our ONLY gilman show.

M: I don't have a number one favorite, but I can think of a couple that are my top picks. The one Gilman show we played with Set It Straight is one. The vibe that night felt really comfortable. Even though we were playing in a place we never had to a large number of people we'd never seen, we had a ton of friends there supporting us and going wild. Another one of my favorites was the show in Redding with Vitamin X. I don't remember anything really about our set, but the guitar player from Vitamin X really liked us and bought a copy of the Pressure EP. Coming from an amazing band like them that meant a lot.

Since each of you both contributed lyrics to STD, do you feel they still hold up? Can you still listen back to the songs and agree with the lyrics you wrote?

D: For the most part I still believe in what I wrote and what I sang... for the most part. I feel some of my early stuff was very angry irrational punk lyrics. Not complete songs but bits and pieces of some. Society Sucks for instance. Im glad I rewrote a lot of shit before I even showed it to the rest of the band.

M: I'd say yeah. Some of the songs could have been written a bit better, but the ideas express in them I still can stand for.

Interview by Ethan Campos.

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