one of the things about great bands is
that there's always a folklore story a
myth around the singer judge was a very
important band
judges a controversial ban I was lucky
enough to see judge three times from the
beginning it was just super intense and
they got better every time and I was
like a super fan of strage hardcore it's
ironic but music specifically hardcore
saved my life a couple of times the
thing about Mike before I actually met
him he was already mythical kind of
taciturn serious guy kids took his
lyrics maybe just too far and people
sort of associated judge with violence
kids have all this kind of like you know
wrong expectations about first of all
what he's about how violent he is he
became his character where people made
him something that he wasn't yeah they
just pictured this guy with like a
baseball bat if you crossed this path
with like a joint or a beer he's got
like you don't beach it yeah it just
became it just blew up into this whole
thing and then we broke up you know I
don't know exactly why we broke up Mike
just disappeared that's what was so
mysterious like you just completely
vanished into thin air next thing you
know judge just didn't exist anymore
people were just
that guy and we love judge you know what
in here all these rumors he's in the
Hells Angels yeah face running God it's
just like a biker dude now how can you
walk away from something that was so
cool you know this was such a great band
it was a here and gone
I think it was a real head-scratcher and
fitting for
myself and friends that were like ah we
love John
well I was I was just born and raised
like a Knockaround guy
I've always I've always been like a kind
of like a up little kid
my mother died when I was like a little
leaven or claw she destroyed her heart
with pills
my father was you know like this
hard-working guy you know he's just like
he's just a hard hard man drank
hard at night you know
she died on a Saturday
it was a massive heart attack that
killed her and we're like sitting in
silence and and I know
something's up and he just goes listen
I'm going to tell you something I don't
want you to cry I like what like your
mom's dead mom died
don't cry about it so I was
alright and I didn't cry about
it
now let I grew up with not much
tenderness and like room for
you know sappiness you get hurt
you know suck it up you know don't be a
wimp don't be a
and I made me like this introvert who
could like socialize really really good
with people and the first thing I
remember like actually like enjoying
with like listening to the radio
eventually moving on to like my brothers
record collection going through our
record collection like I would listen to
every record you know and it wasn't like
I'm going to listen to this song all now
I want to hear something else I would
just put on that record to listen to
that record and I would study the
gatefold and I would read all
the names of the players they used
to listen to it all and just make
pretend I just started making attend I
was in the band you know then one day I
going through the record
collection I grab the David
Bowie Ziggy Stardust record I don't know
if you're familiar when you start us and
like you know the songs about a
band you know like in my little mind I
was like now I'm Ziggy Stardust I'm that
guitar player he's you know with
the golden hands and constantly
like from the time I walked through the
door after school till the time my
father came home and made me go to sleep
I was playing concerts in my room on air
guitar you know
so basically I was like I don't need
anybody you know I got this
world I don't need anybody else
I get to high school and it's like a
torture chamber in there you know like I
just don't fit in like I didn't know how
to like hang out with people and I
didn't know how to talk with people so I
was an easy target and every once awhile
I see like this
like this dude he's got like you know
like this weird haircut it was
like wearing a leather jacket or
something I had no idea what they were
about I just know that there's not many
of them and these people are like making
fun of him but he doesn't even give a
yeah and I used to think that was
so cool because I was like these guys do
that to me and it scares the out of
me and I was like man I wish I could be
like that dude who he just doesn't give
a it's just everything bounces off
him and then I would see another guy
like that and and I got the
courage up to be like hey dude what is
where are those guys he's like oh
they're punk rock if you listen to punk
rock going what the hell is punk rock
and he's like why don't you come with us
after school my band is practicing and I
was like I'm I'm playing it cool
but inside the cycle we can be in bands
you know like this is great then that
weekend they take me to the first
matinees like Saturday matinees a cbet
right we go and his agnostic
front is playing with the first singer
John Watson
and I was blown away man I just
walked away from it going I'm never
gonna miss another one of these I don't
care well I could be half dead but I'm
gonna make every matinee forever because
I was such a loner up kid
you know and then all sudden I find this
group of loner up kids in New
York and now I don't feel so alone that
became my family like that whole scene
that whole city it became my reason for
like living because I just wanted it to
be got it I gotta be alive so I can make
it to the matinee on Saturday
anybody have to toughen up
yeah boy I wrote this next song a long
time ago when I wasn't in a band I wrote
it about a family member I'm just doing
it get her together
it all ended when she was too up
protect her six-year-old daughter from
the friends she decided to party with
this song is called in my way
that song in my way was the song that I
wrote that line about my cousin
something had happened with my little
niece because of her mother and dope a
right or wrong I remember saying for
what she has done I wish those drugs
would just kill her before I get my
hands on her
that's the line in the song those drugs
are going to kill you if I don't get to
you first that's like a awful
thing to think about anybody and then
I'm thinking about it and it's my own
blood you know I'm hoping that what that
lyric is really written about no one
else that has had to go through that
it's just the truth of the
matter is the pain behind it all
is overwhelming I just keep reminding
myself is yell yelling screaming
as early as I can remember there was a
booze everywhere in my in my house my my
father was a big drinker I can't even
remember how old I was when I first
snuck you know bottle of booze from my
dad's cabin tell it what I mean the
booze wasn't even in a cabinet
it was just lined up on on the
table in the corner you know I started
drinking at a at a very early age it was
just a normal thing it gave me
confidence and I stuck with that
and then like I guess the most pivotal
moment for me I went into City by myself
and was a weeknight like a Wednesday or
Thursday night and a show at CBGB's when
I got down to CBS I walked across the
street the bodega I bought like
whatever bottle of booze I have enough
money for and proceeded to get like
annihilated and most of it is a
blur but I must have did something wrong
because I got I got the kicked out
I just remember I kind of like shaking
my head you know shaking the cobwebs off
I was on the floor in this little dark
corner of CDs fat lip
and screwed up nose
black eyes it you know
nodded up head bells going off in my
head you know it just I'm
up
there was no straightedge there was no
straightedge scene I didn't even know
this that you know I haven't even heard
my thread but I just knew that
I was never going to get handled
like that again and first step in doing
it was no drinking no drinking no drugs
now is the beginning because of that
asking
I take the bus home and I'm walking down
this long road as I was walking
and I see this car
it's like Camaro the tell-tale
sign of his jock
usually I stare at the ground
trying not to make eye contact because I
was afraid of me they all seemed bigger
than me they all seemed meaner than you
know just like tough but for some
reason I just look at
this card I look right at a magical muck
and then it dawned on me that wasn't
afraid of this guy because four
or five hours ago I was getting the
kicked out of me by this like
250 pounds tattooed mania you
know yeah a mohawk and
leather jacket with daggers and
spike sticking out of it all
sudden this truck from jock and a
varsity jacket
ain't so scary now you know they
get a car and they look at me
and they're like what's up and I and I
look at him like you know what they look
a lot smaller today you know I mean that
was it but I did turn red everything
changed after that
I was on like such a different set of
tracks by the time I wanted to start
judge things that happened earlier on in
my life with the switch I wasn't so much
afraid of being heard you know I wanted
to that caused a ruckus
right
you got dough
you