Interview : Greg Bennick (Trial | Bystander | One Hundred For Haiti)

1. Hello Greg. How are you doing? What occupies your time lately?

GREG : Hi my friend. Thank you so much for the interview. All support and respect to Black Lives Matter protestors, those working to defund police departments, all those in Hong Kong fighting for freedom of speech, and those in the Philippines who have had enough of Duterte and his stronghold on power via authority. I am doing well - or as well as anyone can be in the last six weeks (writing this in mid-July 2020, roughly a month and a half after the shift from passivity to intensity from activists worldwide). I have been busy recently, first with just supporting protests actively here in Portland Oregon where I’ve been living for the last while, and then with a new initiative my friends and I have collectively started called the Portland Mutual Aid Network. One night a month ago while escaping tear gas attacks and a police lockdown of downtown Portland, my friends and I came upon two houseless men sitting on the side of the road. We stopped and talked to them and asked them their perspectives on the clashes between the police and protesters. After listening for a few minutes I randomly offered them a banana and a water. My friend while walking away joked that this was the most revolutionary action of the evening, because downtown we had just been yelling “fuck the police” and whatnot while things then escalated and we escaped. But we all thought about it and decided to continue giving out supplies and listening to the houseless community on a much larger and far more active scale. That felt like it could actually make a difference and it has. We organized within days, and began food and supply distribution after raising a few thousand dollars in donations. We’ve been going out regularly for the last month and have distributed nearly a thousand meals at this point. We also distribute menstrual products, snacks, shoes, tents, sleeping bags, alcohol swabs, harm reduction supplies, water, socks…and then we refine what we give out each week based on what people need. Our plan is to continue actively doing this through the end of September 2020. It’s essential to listen to people on the street during this time as Trump has sent federal police (Homeland Security) to stop protestors in Portland and the federal police are not bound by the same rules of engagement that local police are. Local police have been banned from using tear gas for example. The federal agents are not restricted in terms of tactics or violence. They can basically do whatever they want. They play by no rules. Last night they shot a protestor in the face with a tear gas canister from a shotgun. Video (content warning: intense violence) is available on Instagram :

(https://www.instagram.com/p/CCjrfWjhiGW/?igshid=pdcpk76d7fl1). 

The tear gas and police munitions directly impact the houseless community, as these are people who are reliant on routine and the police response is breaking that routine nightly. Things here in the USA are escalating and there has been a powerful shift in anti-protestor violence, which of course has escalated many people to start buying guns to train for self-defense. This is a completely different world than we were living in just a few months ago. Very little is the same. Other than all of that in terms of political things, I have been eating clean, reading intensely, working on songs with Bystander, and doing tons of yoga. But mutual aid (@portlandmutualaid on Instagram) has been my focus and will continue to be for the short term because there’s a need there and my friends and I can help with that need.

2. Do you still juggle? What got you into juggling?

GREG: Wow…talk about a sudden shift of topic! Yes I do till juggle, though recently its been more meditative and for personal development and artistic exploration than for performance. I made my living focusing on comedy and juggling forever and its too self absorbed for this world right now, so while I do juggle often its more now about the challenge of it and the art. I could talk about juggling for days. I learned how to juggle totally by accident. I signed up for an after school weekly mini course on coin collecting because as a kid (and all throughout my life really) I have been fascinated by coins, specifically those made incorrectly by accident (a topic if we ever do another interview!) The school secretary accidentally signed me up for the juggling course by mistake and signed another kid up for coin collecting! I walked in to the juggling class expecting to hate it but instead the second I walked in I saw another kid juggling and I knew I wanted to do that for the rest of my life. The best words to describe what juggling means to me is in a book called Lord Valentine’s Castle by Robert Silverberg….its a science fiction classic….

“Do you think juggling’s a mere trick?” the little man asked, sounding wounded. “An amusement for the gapers? A means of picking up a crown or two at a provincial carnival? It is all those things, yes, but first it is a way of life, a friend, a creed, a species of worship.”

“And a kind of poetry,” said Carabella.

“Yes, that too. And a mathematics. It teaches calmness, control, balance, a sense of the placement of things and the underlying structure of motion. There is silent music to it. Above all there is discipline.”

Hell yes! That’s exactly what its like for me. Some wonderful things come out of

discipline.

3. With regards to you being a motivational speaker/spoken word artist what fuels you to share your thoughts and/or insights about our world, politics, leadership, and self preservation?

GREG: Everyone has a story to tell, and speaking is ironically more about listening than it is talking. Any tours I do in the future are going to be modeled after the tours I did in Russia and in Mexico where my speaking was only part of the night and community workshops in death/fear or in politics/truth where people shared ideas and connected for hours each night are the real focus. I love sharing thoughts. Everyone likes the sound of their own voice. But its the ideas of others that drives me these days, and the collaborative community based process. The problem is that it takes a really creative promoter to set up events where people come ready or willing to share as we have been trained by the world to be passive consumers of information, not active participants. A few standout events come to mind. In Australia in the fall of 2019, my friend Reyne put on an event in Perth Australia where he had me speak, but then did a Q&A session which he recorded for his podcast (@repeatrewindpodcast on Instagram) in which it was all interactive. So many ideas were shared and traded that day. Another great event was an event on trauma in Prague last summer where I spoke with a friend about our experiences with trauma and pain and then did an open group sharing session where we all told stories of our pain and how we had found successes in overcoming aspects of that pain. I called the event “From Suffering to Survival” and when I go out next in the world - when there are live events again! - I will be using that title for probably everything I take part in. Anything less feels empty. Our trauma, whether we can face and feel it or not, and if we can be a part of a meaningful world and community who can focus on their own and helping heal others, is the most

important work we could be doing amidst a dying world.

4. How did you get into hardcore-punk? First punk show that you went to? Did it change your outlook in life?

GREG: I got into hardcore punk through a friend of mine who would come over to my house with cassette tapes that he had recorded punk songs onto which he had heard on the radio. The first tape he brought had The Meatmen, The Angry Samoans, The Circle Jerks, and Alien Sex Fiend. We’d never heard anything like it before. I couldn’t believe that people could swear in their songs. I had been listening to the radio and growing up in the 80’s I was all about the hair metal. Bands like Ratt, Dokken, Motley Crue, never swore. They looked cool but they never swore (well, WASP did with “Fuck Like a Beast” but I didn’t discover that til later). I also couldn’t believe the song topics. Now, some of these bands would definitely fail the political correctness test today but little Greg was in awe of them. From there, I got into Husker Du, Bad Brains, Agnostic Front and ended up seeing all of those bands at The Anthrax which was a club near to where we lived. Actually I saw Husker Du at another club: The Agora Ballroom in West Hartford Connecticut (you can read about this place here, and DEFINITELY read the comments….its like a music history lesson!

http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/09/hartford-agora-165-dexter-ave-west.html). And it absolutely changed my life. We were walking backstage and we made a joke about the guys in Husker Du when we saw them about to drink some water at a water fountain…we warned them not to drunk the water in Connecticut and they stopped and listened and then realized that we were kidding and laughed. I was amazed that in punk and hardcore that you could actually talk to the performers. Motley Crue never listened to me like that! With the human side of punk exposed like that anything felt possible. I started going to as many shows as I could, exploring lyrics, listening to bands, and trying to figure out what they each had in common with my friends and me, and what they didn’t, and what I could learn from them. Fast forward a few decades and I am still here listening to hair metal and hardcore.

5. Your top 5 hardcore-punk records:

GREG: 

CATHARSIS “Samsara” LP - this, and their follow up record “Passion” are the most dangerous records ever recorded. They trigger something in my heart and mind which is akin to rage and love and lust and condemnation all at once and it all feels in control and safe, and relentless and savage at the same time. It is hard to describe but if you know you know. It is not about being out of control with anger. That’s silly. It’s about feeling every nerve alive and wanting to burn. 

Favorite track: “Exterminating Angel” the first song on Samsara. I’m going to listen to it right now as I type. When I hear that song it captures the way I have felt when there’s no hope left and all you have is the distant inner core of your passion to drive you. It’s the soundtrack to the apocalypse.

Laid out on that floor

Those nights hanging by a thread

Unsure whether it was desire or despair that kept me drawing breath

When all my dreams came down to nothing,

Left me just another piece of meat

For you I carried my life on in my teeth…

G.L.O.S.S. “Demo” - Nothing felt like this demo felt when it came out in 2015. I still haven’t recovered from the punch in the gut that it delivered. G.L.O.S.S. was too short lived, but maybe that’s for the best as they pulled the pin on a grenade and watched it explode and detonated along with it. We live amidst the shrapnel of their demands to pay attention to the needs of a community often overlooked. This is an extremely challenging (in a great way!) group of songs for anyone with a brain and a heart.

Favorite track: “Outcast Stomp”.

(https://girlslivingoutsidesocietysshit.bandcamp.com/album/demo)

THIS IS FOR THE OUTCASTS

REJECTS

GIRLS AND THE QUEERS

FOR THE DOWNTRODDEN WOMEN WHO HAVE SHED THEIR LAST TEARS

FOR THE FIGHTERS

PSYCHOS

FREAKS AND THE FEMMES

FOR ALL THE TRANSGENDER LADIES IN CONSTANT TRANSITION

CAST OUT

OUTCAST STOMP!

THE PROLETARIAT “Indifference” LP - This is unquestionably the punk record which had the greatest influence on me. I grew up during a time when two styles were exploding: straightedge youth crew, and New York Hardcore. Both were amazing and produced some incredible and highly influential bands. But all along there was something in each which was lacking for me. Youth Crew seemed at times to be so mono focused. Sure, we didn’t drink. We found pride and meaning in that. But it quickly became the same thing played over and over again with different players. New York Hardcore was incredible. It had aggression and rage and so much personality. But I wanted vulnerability and couldn’t easily find it in New York’s style (other than in Underdog, and even then it wasn’t quite what I needed). The Proletariat was what I needed. They were different in every way. They were not aggressive but incredibly angry. They were focused and had a powerful vocal delivery without sounding “tough”. They were creative musically. And they were vulnerable. I didn’t get a chance to see the band until a couple years ago when they reunited and toured after all these years. I saw them in a small illegal warehouse space in Seattle and in a tiny garage in Tacoma, and it was awe inspiring. They held onto their values and vulnerable style all these years without losing any of the drive which propelled them in the early years of their career.

what kind of god could sanction this

i recoil in horror

to torment a soul to seek escape

from a pain too great to suffer alone

CRO-MAGS “Age of Quarrel” LP - What can I say? This is a perfect record from start to finish. The game changer. The LP of all LP’s. This came out when I was 15 and to say that it inspired little Greg goes without saying. It inspired everyone. From the first moment to the last this record is perfect. DM me your favorite song and lets nerd out about this album please. I know I said in my answer about The Proletariat that New York Hardcore was too tough at times…but whatever. The Cro-Mags “Age of Quarrel” is

perfect. 

I thought things were cool

But I guess I was a fool

And now I know all about you

BAD BRAINS “I Against I” LP - This record turned me inside out. (Speaking of Inside Out, their 7” could be #6 on this list!). But for real, when I heard Bad Brains “I Against I”, there had never been anything like it. The delivery was so unique, the style unheard of. I was so fortunate to have been able to see them on the tour for this LP. When they hit the stage it was like an atomic bomb went off. When I remember it I am still a bit in awe even thirty years later. Yes, the Bad Brains later had really unfortunate and terrible positions on homosexuals, but that was their “Quickness” LP (which they later apologized for). In the years where I was listening to “I Against I”, such thoughts about

them weren’t even on the radar. Mind boggling.

In the quest for the test to fulfill an achievement

Everybody's always going to pursue themselves

When the fact of the matter is they just don't care

To extend a helping hand to anyone else

6. What does Straight Edge mean to you? Who or what pushed you to adapt this lifestyle?

GREG: I am the product of peer pressure! Everyone was quitting using drugs and stopping drinking when I was in high school so eventually that idea seeped into my brain too. I was terrible when I was drinking, just not myself and making bad choices with increasing badness. Yes, that’s a word now. I have an all-in personality (shout out to the great band All In from Adelaide Australia! https://allxin.bandcamp.com) and what that means was that if you put one shot in front of me I would drink it. If you put ten in front of me, I would drink them. I couldn’t say no to myself. And eventually things started to get a little out of control. I am thankful that the edge was on the rise in the northwestern USA where I grew up around that time because it meant that it was easy to be influenced by others who were leaving a cleaner lifestyle. Ultimately it was the

song “No Thanks” by Uniform Choice that did it for me. I was in the midst of a stretch of partying and not liking myself and I heard that song and the lyrics “If drinking’s what it takes to be accepted / I’d rather stay aware and be rejected” and it was like a light went on for me. I knew that was the choice I had to make. I was 17 and I decided no more, and I never looked back. I was in my thirties before the smell of alcohol didn’t make me salivate, so that always suggested to me that quitting was probably a good idea. Even with straight edge in my life, I am always and have always been more of a punk at heart. But straight edge was a total game changer for me. And if you’re reading this and are thinking of quitting drinking, please go for it. The edge can put your life in renewed focus too. 

7. How are things in the Bystander camp? Whose idea was it to start this Northwest Hardcore Straight Edge band? What’s the song writing process like? How would you compare it to your previous bands, Trial and Between Earth & Sky?

GREG: It’s been a busy few months even with the world shut down. First though, Bystander isn’t a Northwest band. I am the only Northwesterner. And I was late to join. The band was formed by Chad (drums) and Shariq (guitar) and Charles (guitar). They wrote the first record and then started to put a list together of people who they might want to have sing. They asked me, and I was tremendously excited. Between Earth & Sky hasn’t done much in the last seven years (though we do have an albums’ worth of demos and partially complete songs in the works slowly but surely). So I was excited to have something new and more active come along. I went to Canada and recorded vocals with Blair Calibaba (who recorded Trial “Are These Our Lives?”) and it went well and the guys really liked the demos so I was in. After me Marky (bass) joined so he is the new guy. :) The song writing process is pretty wild because basically every member lives in a different city. We wrote “Where Did We Go Wrong?” our second record entirely remotely (https://safeinsiderecords.bandcamp.com/album/where-did-we-go-wrong) 

Chad and Shariq live in different parts of Chicago. Charles is in Los Angeles. I

am between Portland and Seattle. Marky is a punk rock goth who lives by night and sleeps by day and we don’t know where he actually lives. So we are all in different places and writing happens via the web, well especially now with Covid. Compared to Trial it is less political but more traditional, though our newer stuff is getting weirder and weirder which I like. I like weird. And compared to Between Earth & Sky its less psychological in terms of the song topics. Bystander had a song come out during quarantine actually. It was a collaborative song with Dagger from Hong Kong, all of which was written and recorded during quarantine. The song is called Guillotine and it is taken on entirely new meaning now that Beijing has laid the hammer down on its citizens with a restrictive new law about freedom of speech and dissent. You can checkout the video for the song here:

Coming next is a collaboration with Galeforce. That song is about strengthening

community bonds during the fractured state of the Covid world. Check out their band too! https://tempestitaly.bandcamp.com/album/galeforce-2 And after there will be a collaboration between Bystander and Chaka from Burn. That’s being finished in the next few weeks two. That song is about reclaiming our sense of self in the midst of crisis.

8. Let’s discuss your 2003 documentary, Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality, have you always been fascinated in the afterlife? How was the writing process for this film? In your own words, define immortality...

GREG: Flight From Death is a documentary based on the work of cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker (www.ernestbecker.org) who wrote that humans, just like other animals, do what they can to stay alive, but due to our vast intelligence and ability to think symbolically, come up with ways to work around death as often as we can. A rabbit might run into the road and nearly get hit by a car. But tomorrow it will run across the same road. The human on the other hand, if they run into the road and almost get hit by a car, will figure out ways to not do that again: installing traffic lights (after inventing them) or building a bridge over the road (after inventing that too). We can imagine not dying, and as a result we spend our lives compensating for the face that we WILL die. We do what we can subconsciously at times and consciously at others, to avoid death. So the “immortality” we talk about in the documentary is symbolic, not literal. With that in mind I would define immortality as “an illusion”. The idea of immortality is great. Or is it? What if we could live to be 100,000 years old. What would we do with our time? Wouldn’t you be apt to waste 10000 years playing PS4 because nothing would really matter in terms of urgency? Having limited time makes us work harder, faster, more thoroughly so that the time that we do have is well spent. The writing process for the film was a joint effort between me and Patrick Shen (director/producer/writer). We worked on it for a few years and sunk a ton of time and energy and money into it, but were so happy with the response it received. Multiple international “Best Documentary” awards, an Australian release on DVD, a USA release on DVD, and now an ongoing digital life as well. It seems to have achieved its own immortality given that we are talking about it still seventeen years after its release. That makes me happy, which is probably a sign of that illusion of permanence!

9. Three books that changed your life...

GREG: 

Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death. 

I first read Ernest Becker in the 90’s and his theories on how human beings manage our subconscious fear of death were shocking to me. Our cultures and religious and institutions and personal psychology are all affected by our desire to outlast our temporary lives. Becker’s work is what I referenced in my last answer about the documentary “Flight From Death”. That is the easiest place to get more information about Ernest Becker and his ideas. Also check www.ernestbecker.org

Alan Moore, V For Vendetta. 

Before V For Vendetta was a Hollywood movie, it was a ten issue comic book, and then a graphic novel which was a compilation of those ten issues. I read them when I was 17 and they changed my life. They made me want to destroy the world and rebuild it from a standpoint of compassion. Now of course, the V mask is everywhere and we almost need a new hero. But thirty years ago when I made his mask by hand myself, I was transformed.

Jean Giono, The Man Who Planted Trees. 

This book is about steadiness, compassion, determination, and solitude. It was made into an animated film about one person’s desire to change the world through benevolent means, through dedication, and through focus. It was deeply inspiration to me when I saw it as a teenager and remains so to this day. I highly recommend that people watch it. A YouTube link is here, though I am not sure the accessibility in other countries without a VPN:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTvYh8ar3tc

10. How did One Hundred For Haiti came into fruition? What motivated you to start this nonprofit organization?

GREG: One Hundred For Haiti came about after I joined a bunch of punk friends to sail to Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti in 2010. We sailed from Miami to Haiti over a week at sea to deliver 5000kg of food and supplies for the people there. Once getting there, I stayed when the boat sailed home so I could check on some friends (I had been in Haiti before the quake as well). I wanted to help beyond just the sailing, so I decided to reach out for donations. Originally I wanted to find one hundred people with $1000 each to donate so that I could help a friend who was a doctor who was giving out free medicine and medical care in Port au Prince. But the people who responded to my request were punk rockers, not rich people. It was incredible….all the foundation and donations to the organization from the start came from the hardcore scene. It was an inspiring example of what we can do when we work together. That was ten years ago. People can find out more about the projects we have going on in terms of roof building in rural Haiti, water quality projects, feeding hungry kids, sustainability, and anti-violence work, at www.onehundredforhaiti.org. All the info is on there and I would love for people to be in touch if they have ideas anytime!

One thing that will help a lot and is a way people can contribute to if they like, is that BYSTANDER and OLD GHOSTS have put out an extremely limited split LP with all proceeds benefiting One Hundred For Haiti. The LP is limited to 100 copies on State of Mind Recordings (http://www.stateofmindrecordings.com/) in the USA and 100 copies on Goodwill Records (https://goodwillrecords.net/) in Europe and will never be repressed. Each label is down to its last few copies remaining. There is a cassette version which is limited to 50 copies and that is available through Ugly and Proud Records (http://uglyandproudrecords.net/) - there are only a few copies remaining as well.  The record has unreleased / live songs from Bystander and new songs from Old Ghosts. I believe the LP is $20USD, with a few test pressings available for $50 with all profits going to One Hundred for Haiti.  Please get in touch with the labels and find out more! 

@stateofmindrecordings 

@goodwill.records 

@uglyandproudrecs on Instagram

11. What are your thoughts on the Covid19 pandemic? Do you think it’s a manmade virus? Released in our society to control the population and reset the financial economy. 

GREG: Well I definitely don’t think that it was grown in a lab, but I do think it will unfortunately control the population (by killing people) and reset the economy (by devastating it worldwide). We are in a lot of trouble. More and more so all the time. My thoughts on it come from a few angles. In terms of how it started, I don’t doubt in the slightest that it made the jump from animals to people through consumption of wild animals. I am entirely convinced that as human cultural expansion grows cities and communities in ever expanding circles, that we encroach on habitats of wild animals who then interact with us in unexpected and new ways. I don’t doubt for a second that if people weren’t eating animals that this would never have happened. And lets take my vegan opinions out of it for a second and just look at it politically. I think the Chinese Communist Party is responsible for keeping silent on what was happening, and I think the united States government benefits from overt racism, disruption, and chaos. So it’s a perfect match. Studies in social psychology have shown that when people are fearful of their own death, that they vote for conservative candidates who offer to keep them safe. So Trump benefits from people being afraid. The only things which will save us are mutual aid, supporting our neighbors, and simultaneously getting rid of guilty politicians and political structures by any means necessary. 

12. Thank you so much for your time, Greg, I sincerely appreciate you doing this interview…

GREG: You’re so welcome! Thank YOU for asking me questions and inviting me to share ideas. People should keep in touch with me anytime! @gregbennick on Instagram is a good way to connect. 

A couple things before I go. Please check out my friend Jesse

Manderson’s amazing podcast “Punk is Dad” on Stranger Radio. Jesse is great, fun to listen to, and his play lists are always amazing. Check it out here:

https://www.strangerradio.com/punk-is-dad 

Also, readers should check out some new music of a totally different style from my friends in the stoner rock band Dust Lord. Yes, I just told a straight edge online zine to listen to stoner metal. Why? Because you have to prove how strong your edge is by listening to this entire record. It is a test to see if your edge will go dull. They are excited about their new record and its great!

https://dustlordpartydoom.bandcamp.com/album/machine-cult. 

Thanks friends….hope to see you sometime after the apocalypse on a spoken word / workshop tour where we can all learn together. 

xxx