Who is Chris Erba? Ex-front man of the legendary early to mid-90�s Cleveland
hardcore/punk bands H-100�s and Ruiners, presently the front man of Upstab,
a fast angry offensive volatile hardcore/punk-rock band that truly blows
away just about anything else in the genre to have come about in the last
ten or so years. Chris Erba is a �mental case� that �really saved hardcore
from slipping into something totally positive and boring.� A �crazy in your
face motherfucker.� �A rad fuckin� guy.� �A pot smoking beer swilling
maniac.� Who is Chris Erba, you still ask? Truth is, I don�t really know who
Chris Erba is. He and I have been corresponding with each other through
email for a couple months now, and he seems like a really great up front
kind of guy with an excellent sense of humor who has a lot to say about a
lot of different issues. I searched the Internet for interviews with him or
any of his bands just to find a little info but came up empty handed for the
most part, so I decided I�d give it a shot myself. Chris agreed to do this
interview on hardly any notice, and I have to give him my thanks for it. Who
is Chris Erba, you still nag? Read the interview and find out for yourself.
TB: First off, you started out playing in a band called Windpipe that was
pretty short-lived, then went on to play in the Ruiners and H-100�s
simultaneously years before fronting Upstab, but it�s the H-100�s that most
of us are familiar with, probably due to record distribution. To my
knowledge, and correct me if I�m wrong, the Ruiners haven�t officially
broken up and you ended up quitting the H-100�s, who later became 9 Shocks
Terror with a different vocalist. What was it that made you decide to quit
fronting the H-100�s?
CE: Wow, I�m fucking impressed with your family tree lineage thing�
Somewhere in between all these bands I was also in a great band called the
SaxxSlitters, & the �xx�, and that word should be pronounced with a lisp, like
ski ski. That is very, very important. That band played one show & we broke
up because we couldn�t deal with the fame. Also another band I was lucky
enough to be in right before Upstab was Shaken Baby Syndrome, that was cool
because it was a 3 piece with no bass guitar and even cooler because it went
fucking nowhere. Correct, the Ruiners will never break up, every once in a
while when the planets are all in proper alignment we end up jamming or
doing an occasional show, both end up a complete mess always. But we have
fun, which is what it�s all about dickface. I never really quit the H-100�s.
The band was sort of falling apart due to the ultra-destructive toll of just
being a member of that band. Beating the fucking shit out of yourself and your
equipment, partying harder and playing faster than anyone in the world and our
own personal struggles just all merged together, and that�s just how the
cards fall sometimes. I left Cleveland because I was going through a lot of
shit myself, I felt if I remained in Ohio any longer at that point in my
life, I would�ve been in some real fucking serious trouble with the law.
TB: I�ve heard a lot of crazy stories about many hardcore/punk shows in
Cleveland involving several different bands, but the one that sticks with me
the most and the one story I find most shocking is one of you throwing a
hammer out at audience members during an H-100�s set. Did this really happen
or is this one of many Internet rumors I�ve heard about?
CE: That�s a great rumor, but a rumor at that. I never threw a hammer at
anyone. I�ve jumped off the stage into the crowd slashing with a knife a few
times, also with a meat clever. Many beer bottles, and garbage cans have
been hurled at people. Once I launched a bottle of beer at a bartender, he
ducked for his fucking life and the bottle smashed the back wall knocking
shit all over the place. That was at the Gallery Caf�. Other than that I�ve
seen my brother Tony clock fuckers with his bass guitar, that happened
quite a bit. I have video footage of the shit, it�s funny. Umm, we threw
pretty much whatever was available on stage to wreck, fuck everyone, I�ll
never relate to nobody. 95% of people that come to shows are there to be
seen or impress someone. These are the people that we would, and still,
destroy. I don�t give a fuck about impressing anyone.
TB: Based solely on what I�ve heard it sounds like some of those shows in
Cleveland can get pretty rambunctious. Have you had any specific experiences
as a member of the audience or as a performer where you�ve actually stopped
and thought that things were getting way out of control and that something
very scary might go down?
CE: Man, yeah here in Cleveland things escalate as far as we push it, the
situation is we all feed off each other and when no one can stop us, shit
gets kind of ridiculous. Don�t get me wrong they are great memories. Fuckin�
�A-bitch, the first three H-100�s shows got broken up before we ever got
a chance to set up, so we learned not to even bother unloading our
equipment. Just leave all the shit in the car then commence on the trashing.
So let�s see, the Gallery Caf� show was a good one to talk of � the bill
was H-100�s, Foundation, Apt. 213. Before the show even goes on Paul & I are
goofing around wrestling outside in front of the shoe store next to the
club. Somehow I got thrown through the front window of the store, I rolled
backwards onto a huge shoe rack, all these Keds & shit are falling on me,
the alarm�s going off, and while I was going through the window this giant five
foot sheet of glass comes down like a guillotine, it just missed the back of
my neck and would�ve killed me for sure. Paul took the cut on that one -
right to his wrist and hand, injuring him pretty severely. When we go into the
club to play, the owner is raging pissed. I denied everything about the
window, meanwhile the alarm is still going off and you can hear it in the club, haha. Refer to 2nd question now. Some douche bag decided to punch Steve
from Apt. 213�s girlfriend after their set was done and the place was
already fucking wrecked. I ran outside after the guy and punched him into the
street, right out into traffic we started fist fighting, the fucker had his
finger hooked into the corner of my eye while we were locked up. I kept
firing away uppercuts into his nose until I could feel the bone turning into
silly putty. Meanwhile two of my friends were working him with drum cymbals and
kicks to his back. It was great because traffic was backed up, people were
fucking honking at us and screaming that the cops were coming. I looked over
to see a couple of other fights breaking out at the same time. The dude�s
girlfriend ended up getting her ass kicked as well. They both ran down the
street bleeding with their clothing all torn up, they looked fucking like
they were shipwrecked and just got torn up by piranhas or something. We were
again supposed to play another time at the Y. It never happened because the
entire second district police showed up freaking out. I've seen my friend Duane
ride his bicycle into the middle of a skank pit, he knew he was going to get
fucked up, but did it anyways, now that�s class. I�m not even sure why the
entire second district police showed up, but the bums living at the Y were
getting pissed that there was 75 wild punkers going ape in the rental hall
downstairs. That created a lot of tension for sure. The partying outside
that venue we never got to play was what made it crazy, the intoxication
level was at a real high. Our guitar player Chard staggered out from under
the W.25th bridge dragging a dead raccoon with a wire somehow wrapped around
the carcass. We all took turns beating the dead thing, and one person even
kissed it! The fucking cops rolled up and had the exit sealed and the street
all blocked off. Me and two of my other friends with bicycles just rode right
through them, no questions asked. Of course the Speak�n Tongues riot was by
far the craziest � I think that show was with Ruiners, Boulder, Schnauzer,
and 9 Shocks Terror. It started off with skinheads getting their asses beat and then
just blew up into everyone just swinging at each other, bottles splitting
flesh open, girls screaming, chairs getting cracked on top of heads,
skateboards flying, bleeding and stuff like that. The crowd tried to stampede
out through the only door in the club, but since it got all bottlenecked
together a drywall partition got fucking smashed down, it was real chaos. My
brother Tony accidentally sliced his own friend in the back with a knife.
Cleveland Public Theatre gig we also never got to unload equipment, that
show was Inmates, Integrity, B.O.C, & H-100�s. In short, the whole place got
completely fucked up and a phone got torn out of the wall while the owner
was calling the police. The cops showed up aiming shotguns at everyone,
people starting running and smashing shit like mongooses tearing shit all to
hell. I shimmied up this vintage curtain that was used for the plays there,
then starting yanking the goddamn curtain and the whole fucking thing just
started ripping until I fell on my can. That was just insane, I can�t even
get into all the shit that was happening, musically The Inmates set was
fierce, and Paul was in fine form assaulting the audience with threats of
violence and earlier vowing to jump off a 25 foot drop from the outside patio
and end it all. He also down punched the fat drummer from Integrity in the
back of the head while he was tuning up his drums, a spiked ring was
embedded into the drummer�s skull, via Paul�s fist. I saw my friends in a
free for all, smashing out lights and chucking bottles everywhere. The police
didn�t know what the hell was going on.
TB: Didn�t Upstab play with the Kneecappers a couple years back? How did all
that go? How were the Kneecappers? Those guys have got to be so old now.
CE: Upstab played a legendary �Ellis Family BBQ� party outdoors a few
summers ago. It was Upstab, Annihilation Time, and Kneecappers. The only band
who ripped was A.T. We really sucked that day and the Kneecappers were awful. But
the whole day was great fun, the singer Chris from Kneecappers was still
screaming pissed off. That alone was worth seeing. There was a live
recording that day done off a board and later mixed. It was a good turnout,
probably near fifty people at one point. I think everyone there was either
baked or drunk, or both. Upstab�s drummer Marcus, well his old man played
drums for Kneecappers. His name is Rich and he�s a cool dude. The guitar
player for Kneecappers, Gary ended up passing away this year, he
was a cool dude. He ended up mastering our CD demo for us after moving to
Texas.
TB: Speaking of Upstab, you now have an official six song 7� release titled
�Somebody threw a gallon jug of Thunderbird wine at me�, an eleven song demo
CD-R appropriately titled �The Old Fag�, and a two song bootleg 7� titled
�Stabbing the Church�. How did the bootleg 7� come about or are you just as
puzzled as the rest of us? Do you have any information on how this thing
came to be pressed to vinyl at all?
CE: As far as the bootleg goes, I have some ideas as to who put it out, but
I�ve lost the ability to care about it. Marcus (drummer, & fellow a-hole) received a box of 100 records at his place of employment. There was no
return address on the box and the song titles were listed incorrectly. That
record blows and should have never came out. I guess in a way I�m kind of
flattered that someone would spend time and effort to release that shit. The
way I think it happened was because we had a 3 song CD that we were using to
shop around and get shows, ya know? Like mailing it to clubs or whatever to
try and get booked. Obviously it got circulated somehow. I can tell you that
it was released by people in Cleveland, that�s all I know. We gave all our
copies away. Good luck trying to find it, sucker.
TB: On the �Somebody threw a gallon jug of Thunderbird Wine at me� 7� You
have a song called �9-11 Hoax� that has a line in it saying �There�s this
fucking place called ground zero, where blind patriotism makes you a hero�.
Obviously this line doesn�t bother me one bit as most things people say
don�t and I know you�re not really a political sort of guy, but what exactly
were you trying to say in that particular line in the song? I just picture
you sitting there, watching television day after day getting sick to your
stomach about everything going on and then walking out doors and seeing all
the same old shit like those ridiculous ribbons and flags on everybody�s
cars and basically just feeling disgusted with the whole situation.
CE: What I was trying to get at is people just jump on the bandwagon
because it�s popular to convince themselves that they are some sort of hero,
ya know? like they�re really doing something for humanity by slapping
stupid magnets on their cars, or making a holy pilgrimage to NYC to buy an
american flag pin or some marketable shit like that. What these fucks need
to do is question why the shit happened in the first place, America�s
infrastructure WILL crumble from within. Our government will fuck us any and
everyday. So all you patriotic morons out there just keep believing
everything the controlled media tells you because their view is the only
side, the idiot box never lies.
TB: What went on here in Chicago a couple years back when Upstab played a
gig at the Fireside Bowl? I was living in Michigan then and have gotten a
few different stories.
CE: Fuck it, that�s just typical bullshit nowadays. The truth is the
hardcore PC dorks who need a slogan to shout or banner to wave had a prior
beef with Annihilation Time from the last time they played in Shitcago. The
reason is about as retarded as it could possibly get, but here goes: The
local crowd was upset because a roadie for A.T. had a Skrewdriver t-shirt on
the last time they played town. Like an �All Skrewed Up� shirt or �Early
Years�. So during A.T.�s set some big goon has to make a demonstration, to
prove ya know, that they like stand for something, hahaha, what a crock of
shit that is in my opinion! So the fuck starts breaking a few of A.T.�s
records in front of the stage trying to be tough or something. So of course
an argument happens, Upstab will always side with our bros from A.T. So
people are warning us that were gonna get our asses kicked or whatever, and
that we should just load up and go promptly after the show. For one, we were
already outnumbered by basically the whole club and secondly I am still
perplexed why anyone would fucking care what kinda shirt someone was wearing? What the fuck, I didn�t know the fashion police were so prominent at punk
venues these days. So both A.T. and Upstab load up and leave, and theres all these
cooks standing around outside calling people to come and beat us down. I could
hear them on their cell phones, saying shit like �Hurry up, they�re still
loading equipment out!� We're definetley not jocks or macho HC types, but I
can tell you that our whole band agreed if shit went down we would be
committing manslaughter with tire irons, skateboards, and wrenches. I also want
to add that I personally think "All Skrewed Up" is a great album, there isn�t
a hint of racism on that platter. Those are great British street punk tunes
that should be played very loudly. If you don�t agree I could care less,
this world is made of opinions. Fuck everything. Go get skull fucked by a
komodo dragon.
TB: What�s happening with Upstab now? Aren�t you basically banned from every
venue you�ve played? Any recordings coming up we should be looking out for?
Any upcoming tours or shows?
CE: Actually Upstab is really only blacklisted in Cleveland. We are banned
from Pat�s in the Flats (fuck that place). They don�t like us or want us
at The Beachland (I guess were not cool enough because we don�t wear
white belts or play indie rock) or The Grog Shop (I�ve been told they won�t
give us a chance from a friend who books shows there and has tried to get us
on gigs but told no way). The Tower, a local DIY spot, was a rad place
for us to play, but recently got shut down, so basically that leaves us nowhere to play in town. So unfortunatley for you, we're just gonna keep playing
out of town shows with bands like Cider, Darvocets, Bill Bondsmen,
Annihilation Time, Crunky Kids, Clockcleaner, No Peace, and B.Y.T. Upstab
has another record coming out from our comrades in Holland on Even Worse/Way Back When records. A great label putting out some quality shit, Noel and
Ronald are cool dudes who seem to be quite selective about which bands they
release on their label, basically no bullshit weak-ass bands, hahahaha.
Yeah, that�s right, loosen up and laugh a bit. The next Upstab release will be a
five song 45. A week ago we just finished recording nine fucking new songs and it
blazes shit to pieces. These newest songs will be released on Non Commercial
Records. Check out their website, bitch (www.noncommericalrecords.com). Oh
yeah, we also have a song coming out on the new Hibachi Records compilation,
that�s a cool local label ran by a truly crazy fucker named Thuggy from
Crunky Kids.Upcoming shows? Were playing 8/27 in Detroit at the Painted
Lady (a cool ass bar/club run by some great dudes) with the awesome
Bill Bondsmen, possibly The State and Effigies. You know that show will get
your tits going for sure. I am trying to work out some shows in August for
the weekend before that in Boston, Philly, and NYC with Bill Bondsmen,
Upstab, Clockcleaner, and Cider. Other than that Paul and I were just talking
about putting on an anti-PC show here in cleveland in September.
TB: Tell me a little more about that zine you were telling me you wanted to
start doing. You know you�re really going to have to do it now, right?
CE: Aww shit, well man, I want to have some humorous stories about daily
events that I see here while riding public transportation, fucked up real
stories from friends, like shit you�ve done as a kid, things like: pegging
bee�s nests out of trees with rocks, or setting the woods on fire, robbing
pop machines. Shit like that. Then throw in some music reviews, shit about
the underground skateboarders here nd the raw dedication it takes. I
obviously don�t really want to have it all about music. I�ve talked several
friends into contributing random thoughts and every one seems to be down to
help. The only problem is I have a few things on the backburner right now,
so shit just needs to come together as nature takes it�s course.
TB: It appears to me that you�ve really only played in hardcore/punk bands,
but I know you�re in to far more than that. I mean hasn�t Upstab covered
�Mongoloid� by Devo? Is there any chance we might ever see you playing in or
fronting a different kind of band? Any wishes?,br>
CE: Yeah we did record "Mongoloid." Devo is the best. Too bad you�ll never see
it released, assholes! I can�t predict the future so I don�t know what kind
of band I will be in next, I�m getting sick of everything lately anyway. If
I could play an instrument it would be the sitar. I like hypnotic sounds
that I can meditate heavily to.
TB: Last question here, it seems like there have always been a bunch of
really great unique bands in Cleveland, from Electric Eels to Mirrors to
Rocket From the Tombs to Pere Ubu to Pagans to more modern bands like Cider
and 9 Shocks Terror. Being a native Clevelander, have you got any theories
as to why this may be? Don�t give me any of that �There must be something in
the water� junk, either.
CE: You wanted to know me and who I am? So you should know that I do the
exact opposite of what people wish me to do. So you are getting the water
theory. There is something in Lake Erie that causes Cleveland to produce the
harsh sound waves that disrupt your tympanic membrane, everything here
sucks, there�s no hope for the nation�s poverty capital and we that live here
just illustrate everyday life with things called instruments and speakers that
we plug into sockets to make loudness explode.
END INTERVIEW
Visit Upstab on the web here.
Contact: freakodepresso-at-hotmail-dot-com
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