Interview Alexandros Anesiadis
Tear It Down: How crossover bridged metal and hardcore punk
This book explores how crossover bridged metal and hardcore punk into one.
Alexandros Anesiadis is a writer and scholar with a PhD whose work explores the intersections of underground music, culture, and identity. He is the author of Crossover The Edge, We Can Be The New Wind, and Heroes of the Metal Underground. His latest work, Tear It Down, explores, through reporting, interviews, and more, how bands and their fans bridged metal and hardcore punk in the 1980s.
Tear It Down: How Crossover Bridged Metal and Hardcore Punk captures the violence, creativity, and friction that defined one of the most misunderstood movements in underground music. From household names like Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, The Accused, and D.R.I. to overlooked but essential bands such as Beyond Possession, Sacrilege B.C., Lobotomia, and Lethal Aggression, and then delving into the deepest underground with Ugly But Proud, Whoppers Taste Good, Dresden, and Capitalist Alienation, the book explores the idea of crossover.
Based on over 180 interviews with bands from around the world, from the original 1980s members to bands from the post-2000s to the present, Tear It Down focuses on the formative years of the 1980s-1990s while also tracing the long-term impact and transformation of crossover. The book also broadens the conversation through interviews with record labels, visual artists, zine creators, and even a blogger who recognizes crossover as a culture rather than a style. In addition, over 1,300 bands from across the crossover world are named or reviewed.
Alan – Hi Alexandros. How long have you been working on this book?
Alexandros – Hello Alan! Well, overall, I have been working on Tear It Down since the release of my first book on crossover (Crossover The Edge). That is, since 2019, trying to gather more obscure bands, newer bands and flyers and photos that are really rare.
Alan – Regarding the interviews and articles. Are they all yours? Or did you use other materials?
Alexandros – All mine. Contacted members of the bands included and addressed them the questions, and regarding articles/reviews, again, these were all handled by me. I know, it’s a huge job, but still a labour of love.
Alan – Your connection with Earth Island books?
Alexandros – Ha! I’ve met David Gamage (Earth Island Books as well as Rydell and Couch Potatoes) in a Negative Approach show in London, and he told me that ‘if you ever want to write a book, feel free to hit me up’. So, my first release with Earth Island was ‘We Can Be The New Wind’, and now ‘Tear It Down’-and a few more books coming this way the next years. Earth Island is just the best publisher I have ever worked with, and you should check out their titles because right now, alongside their US collaborators in DiWulf, they are the greatest publishers in punk, hardcore and all over.
Alan – What or who was the biggest challenge for you to get into this book?
Alexandros – Power Trip from Dallas, TX. They are at the moment one of the best crossover (or crossover-adjacent) bands in the world, so it’s not that easy to catch ‘em up. However, Blake Ibanez was super cool and happy to reply my questions.
Alan – A slightly different question. What about Exploited?
Alexandros – Ah, well, you know the feelings that Wattie had regarding metal-or when some fans told him that ‘Death Before Dishonour’ LP was way too metal! The Exploited’s influence was huge in UK82, thrash metal and crossover scene. And I really think that their later records such as ‘Massacre’ or ‘Beat The Bastards’ are very metal-fused. I do love their early stuff, but always enjoyed their most dark and Killing Joke-influenced, ‘Horror Epics’.
Alan – I looked at the feedback from the bands; it was mostly praiseworthy. How did you get on with the bands? Anti-Nowhere League and others.
Alexandros – They were all so kind man, total class. Regarding ANL, the interview with Animal was conducted via his daughter, Sophie, and when I went to see them later in London, he was so kind and cool-they loved the book and my review on them!
Alan – Apart from the UK (England), where else do you have the book covered? In the Czech Republic, I noticed that the Dobrovský bookstore sells them.
Alexandros – You can find Tear It Down everywhere in the world. In Europe/UK via Earth Island, in US via DiWulf Publishing, and in all known resale platforms.
Alan – Has it ever happened to you that someone didn’t want to give you an interview?
Alexandros – Yeap, all those years it happened twice. I have taken about 800 interviews in total, so 2 out of 800 isn’t a big percentage! I won’t reveal their names, but the one is a total arrogant douche from NYC (but now relocated because nobody likes him) and the other one is milking the cow with session musicians next to him. Ooops!
Alan – The book has more than 600 pages, that’s a lot of words.
Alexandros – It has to be that way if you want it to be as complete as possible, even though this is never gonna happen to the fullest! Yeap, 600 pages is a lot, but this means that the book will become a lifetime friend, right?
Alan – For you, who is the most important crossover band that shaped this style? D.R.I., Cro Mags?
Alexandros – Ah come on! Don’t make me choose between two of my most favourite bands and people, D.R.I. and Cro-Mags, Kurt Brecht and Parris Mayhew! You know that the alternative title for Tear It Down was Age of Crossover? Both bands rule and their legacy in crossover is massive, just check out bands like Municipal Waste, Mindforce and Combust!
Alan – Which passage would you most like to highlight from your book?
Alexandros – “Plus, another great memory was getting paid $50, then Dan asking for $10 back for a show in Oxnard with Exodus, Verbal Abuse, and NOFX. The $10 Dan asked for was each of us giving NOFX money for gas and food because they got stiffed by the promoter. We happily obliged Dan’s wishes; that’s the kind of guy he is” -- Greg Saenz, drummer of Excel regarding Dan Clemente of Excel.
Alan – Thanks for the interview, and keep writing.
Alexandros – Thank you so much Alan, it was a pleasure! Plus, check out some newer bands like Aggros, Inhuman Nature and Combust – you will love ‘em!
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