The Godfathers of Hardcore (2017) - full transcript

Each generation
eventually decides

that all the generations
that went before were fools

that the world
is just an awful place

and that they can change it.

They rebel
and in their rebellion

they find some new way
to drive their parents insane.

Rebecca Sobel reports
on the newest bit of rebellion,

it's called Slam dancing.

The music these kids
like is called Hardcore.

The lyrics,
when you can hear them

shout about freedom,
being yourself.



And if you're looking
for a melody, forget it.

The music is loud, fast, period.

From New York

the "Agnostic Front."

♪ People say that I'm insane
society's victim ♪

♪ Just the same society's rules
have made me cruel ♪

♪ Just the opposite
ain't no fool the way I act ♪

♪ The way I dress make me
strong or make me best ♪

♪ Soon they'll find
the reasons why ♪

♪ I'm open minded
and not blind ♪

♪ But why am I goin' insane? ♪

♪ Why am I the one to blame? ♪

♪ Open your eyes don't tell me
lies I'll be the one ♪

♪ To live and rise I'll be sure
and sure to find ♪



♪ That society's rules
won't change my mind ♪

♪ But why am I goin' insane? ♪

♪ Why am I the one to blame? ♪

♪ Insane ♪

♪ Why am I the one
to fuckin' blame? ♪♪

These are the-the braces
we used to wear.

When you go on the dancefloor
with these

manianic real stud braces

and just fuckin'
circle jerk style, you know?

These are cool,
when I'm puttin' this on,

wanna get in the pit now.

I got a couple of people
I'd like to backslab

like they do today.

We used to make our own shirts,
you know, like...

we used to show up

to the venues
with just screens

and as we go
we'll sell screen shirts.

We just had the screens and ink

and just squeeze 'em out

and sell 'em fresh, you know?

It's pretty crazy.

This is cool shit, man,
you know?

And I'm lookin' at this
and just remembering

how, how really cool
the scene was.

How creative, how together,
how genuine it was.

This is when
New York was magical.

I don't know what this is.
Oh, shooting targets.

It goes hand in hand
with hardcore.

There you go.

You know, sometimes
when I look through all this,

it brings back so many memories,

and kinda wish I did

more lookin' through all this.

It's like, I don't really know
what's in, all in this trunk.

It's kinda sad to know that

all, everything in here is...

I put so much passion
and time into collecting,

and, I don't know why,
sometimes I just block it out.

Just... It's like everything
else I've done

in my life as a child.

I block things out
and I don't know why.

But the good thing about it
is when I do open it

and look through it,
I'm interested to go back.

Watch out.

Ah.

Wow! They put fences
on this roof.

I haven't been up here
in a while.

Used to be see... able to see
all the way to Chinatown

and now there's fuckin' trees
in the way.

They all live here now.

Patrick Stewart lives here.

Moby... lives over there.

David Bowie lives over there.

But I live right here
all my life.

They wanna live near me,
I guess.

Huh. Hey, it's not a bad place
to live. Good people, you know?

Ah.

My grandfather's pigeon coop
was right over here.

When I was a kid,
I used to climb down here,

go d.. go take care
of his pigeons.

You know,
he used to let 'em out.

They had racing pigeons,
homers, grizzles.

Me, personally,
I liked fancy tails,

you know, like satinettes
and caps.

You know, fancy-tail birds,
they're not good fliers,

but they're really like
show birds.

But, it's a dying thing now too.

You're not even allowed to have
a pigeon coop on the roof.

Thanks to fuckin' Giuliani.

That fuckin' hard-on
ruined my fuckin' city!

He's a boondoggle motherfucker.

I don't know anymore.

Ah! I get fed up sometimes.

Watch yourself.

My name is Vincent Capuccio.

I was born
on December 3rd, 1955.

New York City.

I'm 60 years old.

If I didn't play music,

I think
I woulda winded up workin'

for 20 years or whatever it is.

I collected my check
and I would've been dead

twenty years ago, like...

Like, ten years ago
I would've been retired.

I go out and I live.

First of all,
I like playing the guitar.

I played the guitar
my whole life.

Like, really, technically.

And I just enjoyed doin' it.

I like gettin' together
with a bunch of guys

go to the studio,

you know,
ordering a few pizzas,

a couple of six-packs,

you know what I mean?

I enjoy myself. I enjoy life.

I'm havin' a good time, man.

I always have a good time.

And I-I-I live
like, in the rest of the world.

Like, don't misunderstand me.

I believe in Santa Claus.

You know... you know,
you gotta believe.

You gotta have that,
you can't lose that...

that kid in you.
You know what I mean?

'Cause when you lose
that kid in you

I think you get jaded.

But I got a lot more
music in me.

I got a lot more life in me.

When the day comes,
it'll come.

God wants, it'll come.

But until that day comes,

fuck you, man, I'm going.

Oh, yeah, that's good.

So let's tape off the dash.

You know "Agnostic
Front" is a...

it's, uh, it's my life.

It really is. It's, uh...

I don't know, let me see,
let me try and figure out

how to describe it.

Um, it's been a big part
of my life

since I was a kid, you know?

It fascinates me that people
wanna talk about something

that I've done or...
or written or created.

And it feels good sometimes
that people care, you know?

And that's the ty-type
of person I am.

That's why I put so much
into the band because I care.

And sometimes I think
I care a little too much.

Like, there's things
that probably

wouldn't bother a normal person

and it bothered me.

You know, it's because, uh...

Maybe because I put too much
into it.

and I put so much of myself
into it

that it'll bother me
if anybody thinks

anything different of it.

To-to anybody just observing it

from the outside in

would probably question
what is the band,

and a lot of people,
the first thing they get

is this some kind of a
anti-religious type of a thing.

You know? But it's not true.

"Agnostic" meaning
in doubt of the absolute truth

till you see it
with your own eyes.

And that's what
it truly means to me.

It truly means
questioning authority,

questioning society,
just questioning everything.

Like, there's a lot
of doubt out there

and I'm not gonna just believe

what they say I should believe.

I wanna see it
with my own eyes.

I am very frustrated
with the way

things are happening
in the world today

as it was when I was a kid.

I bring it upon myself
just because I'm...

I am that curious person
and I do wanna know

and I don't want somebody to
tell me what I need to believe.

So, in my own seekin' it
for the truth,

I bring frustration
and aggravation and...

But it fuels my...

my fire
and brings my lyrics out

brings...
Makes my magic happen.

It kinda checks me back
in point, you know?

What I'm more...
more grateful of anything

that "Agnostic Front"
has brought to me in my life is

I've been living
what everybody else waits

and works so hard for
till they hit that 65 years,

to live their life,

and sometimes it can be
20, 30 years,

sometimes it's just two
or three.

Sometimes people really
worked so hard till they're 65

and that's all they know

and they stop
and they just drop dead, right?

I've been living a great life.

Enjoyable life,
doin' what I really wanna do.

I've been living my dream.

Breeze by
afternoon, can you believe it?

Mostly overcast skies.

There's a little relief
coming tonight

in the form of some cooler air

it's gonna bring some goobers

hope the thunder
doesn't shake you out of bed.

But, hey, at 65 degrees,

that's perfect for getting
a little bit of shut-eye...

Vinnie lives
a very simple life.

And, you know, Vinnie.
That's who Vinnie is.

If it... Something rubs him the
wrong way, he eliminates it.

But he lives a very smooth,
peaceful life.

He really does.

So it's summer in the city.

If you have some
outdoor fun plan

Sunday is gonna be
your best bet.

This is Mid,
your morning meteorologist.

I'll keep my eyes to the skies

and you keep your hands
off the dial.

Well, you know,
Vinnie is born and raised

right where he is today,
you know?

He was born downstairs
in his mom's apartment.

Right where Vinnie is,
right in the same floor

there was,
there's five apartments.

His aunt was there, you know?

His cousin Baps, you know,
was right there.

And upstairs his other aunt.

There's a whole family

lived in this building.

I mean, the doors

were open at all time.

Nothing was ever locked.

And they would come in and out
as they please.

Like, if it was some
giant duplex

and, uh, wake people up,
or whatever, it was family.

My entire life, all 60 years,

I lived in this buildin'.

My whole family lived here.
This is where I come from.

This is, you know,
w-where I belong.

We used to play skelsy
right over here.

You know, skelsy? They write
the thing with a chalk

and you get the caulk.

We used to fill the caulk
with, uh, wax, you know?

Melted wax, because we used to
make wax hands and feet

for St. Rocco,
he's a saint of mine.

And, uh, he's like the
Saint of Illness, you know?

Like, Saint Lucy
is the Saint of the Eyes.

I always love Saint Lucy
'cause she's a little lady

like in a black veil,

and she's got a dish
with two eyeballs.

Scared the shit out of me
till today.

See right here?

I used to come out
of my buildin'

right across the street,
that was "Murder, Incorporated."

And that's where all the
gangsters used to hang out.

That's the mafia's mafia,
you know?

When they gotta kill a mafia
guy, they call those guys.

Because they're the baddest
of the bad.

Mergo! Pssh...

How are you?

-Hi, Carmine. How you doin'?
-Alright.

-I'll be here tomorrow night.
-Okay.

Yeah, alright.

He's got a good heart.
Vinnie's got a good heart.

You know, he just likes
genuine people.

And that's why we got along
real good.

We don't... We don't, never put
a lot of things in between us.

Even though we're very
different, we really are,

but when we come together
as "Agnostic Front"

we're, we're, we're a team,
you know?

Wow! Look, look, a raven.

It's a raven on top of that car.

Whoa!

-Stigma always liked ravens.
-Yeah.

Always, always liked ravens
for some weird reason.

Stranglers.

That's why.
He loves his stranglers.

Always,
"A raven! A raven! A raven!"

I mean, what, it's a raven.

I know, you show me an eagle,
or an owl,

you know, what the fuck, raven?

He knows me
better than anyone else

who have ever known me.

And he's... knows my family,
you know what I mean?

Like, my sister,
he talks to my sister,

talks to my brothers,
talks to my mother,

like he's, you know,
he's one of us, you know?

One, two, three, alright.

I'm in the same band
for 35 years now.

You know, with Roger.

You know, I used to be
his older brother,

but now he's like
my older brother, you know?

There's nothing
that can ever come between us.

No money, no religion,
no, no ego.

Y-y-you know... n-n-n-nothin'.

Keep the...
Keep it aligned with the dots.

We'll be good then,
because we're gonna do

three more new songs,
then we stop.

Jay.

Should we do that intro to
uh, Old New York?

You could do whatever you want.

So let me hear Dead To Me.

I mean, intro let me hear
Dead To Me.

You don't wanna do, uh,
The American Dream Died?

-Eh, it may not be worth...
-Nah We got enough new songs...

No, no, don't...
If they know the new song,

they'll hear that intro.

Well, to be honest with you,

it's been an addiction,
you know?

It's been, uh...

It's been so...
so much of my life it's...

I'm so passionate about it,
I love it so much.

I mean, really.

Just like still
with My Life My Way,

I have to see
which was the first line.

That's all, the first line.

There's been times where...

where I've been frustrated.

Sometimes you sit back
and thinkin' like,

"Why am I doin' this,
like, you know?"

"I've got my family, people
I love,

blah-blah-blah, you know?"

I've got my job,
I got everything.

But, you know, Vinnie's always
been pushin' me in a way.

He was like, "Oh, I wanna...
Can I just do it till I'm 50?"

And now, he's got this thing,
"Alright, till I'm 60."

"Come 62," you know?

And I almost feel guilty
that if I stop,

I'm kinda takin' somethin'
away from him.

The guy really loves hardcore.

I mean, it's his life,
it really is.

He just loves it.
He loves the shows.

He loves bein' there.
He loves bein' a part of it.

The thing about Vinnie is

there is no other
60-year-old man

that I know that behaves or acts
or does anything like him.

You know, he lives life.

I think the guy knows
that it's a crank call.

He's gotta know.

I mean, it's so ridiculous.

Look at the size
of this fuckin' phone.

Man, it'd be good for coke.
Chop...

Hello?

-Hello?
-Hello?

I want... Listen.
I wanna get a tattoo.

Who is this?

Never mind,
who the fuck this is,

I wanna get a tattoo.

This is a tattoo studio, right?

I wanna get your fuckin' tattoo
on my fuckin' back.

But I got pimples on my back.

You've gotta squeeze the pimples

before we fuckin' tattoo
the fuckin' t-thing on.

I want a picture of Rocky
on my back.

You gonna do it or what?

-Who is this?
-Never mind, who this is.

I told you the first
fuckin' time, ya cocksucker.

-Stigma?
-Yeah, he got it.

He knows.
I crank call him all the time.

Yeah, it's me, Vinnie.
How are you, Mark?

We're talkin' shit about you.

I try to take a little bit

from both of those guys,
you know?

I gotta say,
the both of those guys

in the past 14 years
that I've been in this band,

they're, like, my best friends

and they're, like,
almost like father figures.

They believe in what they do.

You got a crazy maniac
like Stigma

and then you've got
a super-serious guy like Roger

who handles all the business,

who handles
all the important stuff,

you know, the things
that make the machine work.

And then you got this nut
Stigma...

who is just so...

Heh!

-Wow!
-Comin' to the show today?

There's nobody else
like him in the world.

And even I remember going
to see them as a kid, like...

I couldn't wait to see them
on stage.

Well, he's got something
about him

that a lot of people
just don't have.

And people see that, you know?

He's a real character, man.
He is a character's character.

Thank you very much, everybody!

I'd like to thank
MAD for being here

and puttin' on this show.

Thank you.

And all the rest
of the old school parley crew.

We've been playin' this place
a lotta years.

And you know what?
It only gets better.

We also want to thank
Corte Records.

Give it up for Cortex Records!

Are you ready to sing
this one with me?

It's called,
Pauly, The Beer Drinkin' Dog.

♪ Well... ♪

♪ He's not very handsome
to look at ♪

♪ And he eats just like a hog ♪

♪ And he's always drinkin'
my beer up ♪

♪ Hey ♪

♪ Pauly the beer drinkin' dog ♪

♪ Hey ♪

♪ Pauly the beer drinkin' dog ♪

This is all I know.
This is what I do.

I don't know...
I-I don't know any other way.

You know, like, some people
are junkies all their lives

or some people gamble
all their lives, you know?

I just like bein' in
a hardcore band and, you know?

And it doesn't matter to me
that, like...

you know, my band is successful

to which, I love... Thank God,
but I've put a lotta hard work

but, you know,
I do it anyway.

♪ Pauly the beer drinkin' ♪

♪ Dog ♪♪

Thank you very much, everybody!

Hands up in the air!

Here's to Newark!
Home of rock and roll.

Hands up! Go!

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

I can't stand still.

Somethin' that bothers me.

I don't know how to relax.

I don't think I ever did
ever since I was a kid.

I've always been that way.
I worry too much.

And, I wish I...

I-I wish I didn't.

And, and a lotta little things
bother me.

And sometimes I don't show it.

But it eats me up
it bothers me,

and I-I internalize everything
pretty bad.

I-I-I have a little bit of ADD

and, and all that crazy shit

and, uh, unless
it's totally fascinating me,

you got me, I can't do it.

I got to do somethin' else.

And that's been my whole life

like, I need-I need to be
totally fascinated by something

and keep movin' forward
with it.

My life,
bein' in Agnostic Front

has been that fascination.

I like the fact
that I'm moving,

I'm goin' different places,
I'm meeting people.

I'm, I'm taking stuff in.

You know, like,
I can't do Groundhog Day.

I can't do the same thing
over and over.

I get extremely bored.
I get extremely crazy.

That's why everything I do,

I'm completely passionate
about.

Completely dedicated to,
you know?

Like, everything I do,
I'm in it 100%.

If I don't feel like I'm in it
100%, I'm not doin' it.

Because, I know who,
the person...

The kind of person I am.

It's either I'm "Gung-ho"
or I'm out.

I do battle depression.

I don't believe in, uh

especially in pills
or anything like that.

I'll do everything I can
to-to not go that route.

And I've been through therapy

and, uh, and one thing

that's helped me a lot
and greatly

with my depression and anxiety
is my wife.

You know, my wife
is really good at grounding me

and she has been
the only person

that has really been able to
help me with that.

♪ Johnny can't read
Johnny can't write ♪

♪ Johnny just
don't understand ♪

♪ Johnny don't care
about this world ♪

♪ As long as he can
fuck his girl ♪

♪ And prove that he's a man ♪

♪ Johnny wastes his days
eatin' ludes ♪

♪ He's a teenage vegetable ♪

♪ Johnny hates to think
he's ignorant ♪

♪ He's a mindless
brainwashed pig ♪

♪ Ring a bell
he starts to drool ♪♪

Well, you know,
myself bein' an immigrant

Vinnie bein'
maybe second generation

or third generation,

we almost didn't feel like
we had our own family

within our own family,
if you know what I mean.

We had to go out
and search for family.

And, uh, I mean,
I love my family.

I love my mother, my brothers,
my sisters.

But there was that empty...

There was that empty feeling
inside of me

that I just needed to explore.

I needed to go out there.
I need to-to...

Especially, when I found people
that were like me

and I felt so close to them,
I felt that bond.

I felt that...
that togetherness.

I just needed to go on further
and explore it.

♪ I count my blessings
every day ♪

♪ For my friends and family ♪

♪ I get down on my knees
and pray ♪

♪ Hopin' we can find a way ♪

♪ I count my blessings
every day ♪

♪ For my friends and family ♪

♪ Now that we come
face to face ♪

♪ I pray to God
we don't lose faith ♪♪

Black and blue take over
East Village Radio.

What a night tonight, great,
great, great, historic guest

in the studio with us,

of course, main stay
at the Lower East Side,

my brother, my mentor...
one of my mentors,

one of my older brothers,
Vinnie Stigma.

-Vinnie, what's up?
-Joe, how are you?

-Good to see you, brother.
-Yeah, we love you, man.

It's always a pleasure
to have you down here.

Uh, Vinnie, what you've done,

and-and-and helped out,

and-and created
for this community,

uh, it's amazing, man.

And-and I'm stoked to hear

all the good things
happenin' about you,

you know? And, uh, I'm-I'm happy
to see someone, uh, like you,

you know, getting what to do,

getting the attention
you deserve, you and Roger

and the band, and all the people
you influenced throughout

the hardcore, punk rock,

throughout the whole
music community.

Not just hardcore and punk rock,

I saw some sting
with M-Metallica?

Yeah, I'm in, uh, Guitar World
this month with Metallica.

-What?
-Yeah, I got the centerfold.

Yo, the centerspread, you know.

-Shit, the centerspread!
-Get the fuck outta here!

Oh, you gotta read the article.

It is so great, man.
I'm telling you right now.

It's so much fun.
I talked nothin' about guitars.

I just talk about life,
you know?

That, that's,
that's really good, man.

You're givin' a kid out there

a little hope,
a little direction.

-Yeah...
-You know?

That's, that's what it is.
I mean...

Yeah,
because hardcore is freedom.

Don't let them tell you
what to eat,

what to believe in,

what to drink,
you got your own mind,

make it up for yourself,
and take it from me,

I'm a real New Yorker, you could
tell by the fuckin' accent.

I love you. I'm your friend.

I gotta let you know
these things, alright.

-Thank you. I'll see you later.
-I'll catch you later. Alright.

Alright. Ritchie,
I'll see you later. Papa!

-You're looking good.
-Alright.

-I love your style.
-You're lookin' better.

I cannot not like you!

I don't care. I got it.

I'll take my shirt off
in the rain, I don't care.

That's the sound of New York,
baby.

So, "Agnostic Front"
in the history of music

is always gonna be
one of those bands that

chances are you could be
anywhere in the world.

And that name could come out

and somebody out of leftfield
that happens to be in that room

when that name is mentioned
is gonna say

"I know that band."

Chances are that person
doesn't own any of their music

but they somehow
know that name.

Like, to me,
that's an illustration

of how much of an impact
that band has made,

that it can touch
on mainstream popularity,

but not have literally
achieved it.

You know, obviously,
there is this incredibly

raw element to Agnostic Front.

That it, it can't be mainstream.

This is a slam-dancing club

in New York City.

And if you think
this looks weird,

just look at these kids
up close.

In cities like Boston,
Los Angeles, Washington,

and here in New York,
they dress punk

and hang around
slam-dancing clubs.

And while they look
as scuzzy as the club itself,

this one in New York
is called the A7.

These kids do have
a philosophy.

And it's not anywhere near
as bad as they look.

People have been encouraged
to participate,

you know, you can be in a band,
you can be a photographer,

you can just go to shows
and support things

and buy the records and get
involved and get interested.

Instead of people just sit
at home and wonder what to do

and watch TV, you know, people
have a chance to be creative

and, and have a chance
to express themselves.

It's, it's really a matter of,
of getting that chance

instead of blindly following
all the time, you know?

There's a whole network around
this entire country that's

supporting this underground
movement and it's grown.

We don't bend down
to rock stars

and-and to what's on the
commercial radio stations.

Everybody knows each other.
They come down and they play.

That's why this club's
like the A7 club

and what's happening around.
'cause all the kids come around

get together and play music.

Well, it's an entire
cross-section.

We have different age groups,
you know, some people

who are just kids, some people
a little older.

And, all in all,
we have our entire variety

of different people,
you can't really get it down

to one sort or type of person.

We have, uh, different races,
different sexes...

It's not really
a clearly defined movement.

Let's begin with
what is the movement all about?

It's all a whole new
way of-of thinking, you know?

It's-it's, it has nothing
to do with age,

age, the way you look,
the way you dress,

it has nothin' to do with it.

It has nothin'
to do with it at all.

What really matters,
is your attitude

and how, how you think
about yourself

and, and like, how you treat
different people, you know?

Like people sayin', well, the
world's never gonna be good,

it's always gonna be messed up
and people are always gonna be

like, out for themselves
and you're never gonna be

able to change it,
it's not true, you know?

If all the kids get together
in the world, right?

And we all feel
the same way about

one particular thing,
you know?

And then we just spread out,
farther and farther, you know?

People s-say it's impossible.

Well, you're just
a small clique of kids.

You can't do anything about

what's goin' on in the world

and that's true,
like, today it's true.

If we try now,
to stick together, right?

And maybe it'll get better,
you know?

Well, we don't really know

what the future's gonna be.

We just go about it everyday

and whatever happens
is gonna happen.

And we just try to do
the best of, uh...

at what we do. You know,
we try to do our best--

And how will it
change the outside world?

This, this is killin'
the record industries

but we're cutting our own
records, we don't need them.

They're profiteering off of us.

This... Well, this is,
that's the real world.

Right? Ain't that
the real world you said before?

-Right?
-I didn't say that.

-You said it.
-You said it before.

You asked a question
to this guy.

-Alright. Well, anyway--
-You just did.

We're cuttin' them down.

You know, we don't need them
to exploit us, you know?

We don't want them, like,
you buy a record for two songs

an album for $11 and the rest
is dead-ass space.

I don't wanna hear it.

We-we're proving to people
that we don't

have to follow them
and conform to their...

aspects of society. We don't
have to be like everyone else.

We can rebel by, you know,
b-by being different,

and to being into
different kind of music.

-Not cooperating with them.
-Not cooperating with society.

We can be against society
and live in our own...

Make our own society
without, you know

lowering ourselves
to their standards.

Fight against society,
not each other.

-Cut.
-Good, excellent!

-Bravo!
-Bravo!

-Fantastic.
-Bravo! Thank you.

This scene was just
a by-product of the '80s

and, uh, pissed, angry youth
you know, that's the scene.

To be honest with you,
that's what it came out of 'em.

What collectively drew
everybody's attention

was this aggressive music,
what we all had to say.

A lot of the people
involved in the scene

were either runaways,

or just outcasts, misfits

that didn't belong
with everyone else.

We were young kids,
we looked out for each other

protected each other...

♪ Let you down ♪

Agnostic Front didn't create

the New York City
hardcore scene.

This scene was created
by all my friends

and, if it wasn't
for all of us

being together,
going to each other's shows,

supporting each other,
who knows?

We hung out
in the Lower East Side

when it was a place,
m-most dangerous time ever.

This is not the New York City
you go see now.

This is not the Times Square
you go see now.

This was legit,
this was a true ghetto.

And pretty much,
we had it all to ourselves.

New York City
is a violent town.

Murder is an everyday
occurrence.

Yeah, it was a war zone.
It really was.

A lot of abandoned buildings,

a-a lotta devastation.

It was a lotta drugs.

You know, it-it was just
a bad area.

Shootings, muggings,
gangs, street gangs.

All around us, so we
naturally had our own gang,

you know? We were
the Lower East Side crew.

Back in 1982-83,
it was like I said before,

like a family
where everybody's together,

we were pretty much very...
It was very poor way of livin'.

We all lived in one apartment,
on 188 Norfolk Street,

down here in Lower East Side.
It was about ten of us.

And we, our ways of eating
or anything like that

was, we used to, actually,
you know, man on the street,

you know, ask for change
and stuff like that.

We work together, we'd all

bring back the money
and we'd eat.

It was a very poor lifestyle.

We learned how to live
as people together

instead of like, individually
breakin' up and like,

bein' like, you know, selfish
so we kinda

learned like, it was sorta like
a commune, you know

something like,
it was like a hippie commune

but it was nothin'
like a hippie commune.

It was more of a harder
commune, you know?

I think we sound
the way we sound like

because we are a product
of New York.

If we would've been
from anywhere else

in the country, I don't think
we woulda had that edge,

and that element of danger
created something great,

something fantastic,
something brutal,

real, genuine and in your face
that you can't recreate today.

It was completely organic,
there was no...

There was nothing fake
about it,

and it could only happen
'cause we lived at that time.

That era in New York City,
those people, those bands...

that's it.

Good-looking 60-year-old
right there.

Thank you. I try my hardest.

He makes me look good,
he's a model, the kid, you know?

-Can you take a picture?
-Sure.

-Good one.
-Thanks.

-Thank you very much.
-Thank you.

You know, I-I'll always be
doing this.

I knew from an early age
I'd be doin' this.

'Cause I'm that kinda guy.

Yeah, what else
is there to do...

for me, anyway?

Well, I love it.
60 years old, got a mohawk.

That's hard, that's true,
that's grit.

Yeah, in shape. Good. Feel good.

Gonna play my guitar hard
tonight.

I might even put on a new strap.

I-I-I realized that, like,

uh, I wasn't, like, in step

or the rest of society,
let's say.

But I always felt like,
"Hey, I'm a normal guy."

"I'm a regular guy, you know?"

Punk and hardcore,
then was like, new.

It was totally different.

It was no more the guy up there

and you gotta, like...
You know what I mean?

It was real,
it was down-to-earth.

I felt that you could
achieve it.

You could do it.

You know what I mean?
You could be that guy.

You know? And I say to myself,
"Not only I could be that guy,

I could do better
than that guy.

I could do it louder,
I could do it faster,

I could do it harder,
and better.

And that's what I did.

Okay, who started the band?

Which one of you
started the bad? Come on.

I did, I started the band.

Oh! Ashamed to admit it.

I started Agnostic Front
about three years ago, uh...

I wanted a band to speak of,
uh, social unrest, uh,

a lotta political aspects
to it, uh...

I, uh, wanted more than just
the name of a band.

I wanted a-a statement
of some kind.

You know, every time
I say the name,

it could mean
something different.

You know, like it could mean
any socially and politically...

It can also not mean
the absolute truth.

To be in doubt...

To be in doubt,
not meaning the absolute truth.

Not knowing the absolute truth

is what agnostic means.

It could mean
politically, socially

religious.
It could go anyway...

A front meaning a...

Your point of view, your stands

your morals or whatever.

So we all have a diff...

Well, before Roger was
in the band,

I had other guys
like John Watson...

Raybeez, I had a bunch of guys
in the band, you know?

Then I got steady drummers
and stuff like that

and then I got Roger.

Everybody, what I wanna see?

What I wanna see right now...

is a giant circle pit

all the way back the way front.

Let's do this.
Giant circle pit!

♪ Are you friend or foe? ♪

♪ Are you friend or foe? ♪

Roger was a bass
player for The Psychos,

and, uh, you know,

they weren't too popular.

I loved them, you know.

Yeah, they weren't really doin'
like, all that, you know,

but Agnostic Front
was, you know, kinda,

you know, a staple
of New York hardcore.

Alright, all you videots
out there.

This next band is the crucial
band from New York.

The ones known of the name
as Agnostic Front.

We're illegal.

Punked, scathed, black, white,

everyone of us, hair, no hair,
start doin' it.

When I was approached
to sing in Agnostic Front,

that, that took some
gettin' used to,

and the reason
I was approached,

because I was a-a stage diver.

I was that guy in the scene,
in the pit, stage diving

and that's who,
how they pick guys.

Here's the original
United Blood.

There were two versions,
I wonder which...

This has got everything
in here.

I don't know what this is.

Oh, look at this.

That's a young me.

I can tell by the way
I'm holdin' my mike.

It-it was really young,
because there was...

I was insecure.
I didn't know what to do.

You know, I mean, I...
I come from playin' bass.

So somethin' thrown to, to sing

and I just didn't know
what to do,

and one of the things
I used to do is

grab the mike like this
and just...

Go for it, you know?

I always had somethin'
to hide behind

and it's hard to hide behind
a little microphone, you know?

Th-there was just
a weird feeling, you know?

Alright, let's go.
I got the tape rollin'.

Go? Okay.

Fight, Last warning. Okay.
We're gonna do Fight.

You guys wanna
keep doing Fight?

It was like the A7 club
for instance,

you're on the floor with
everybody else, you're singing

everybody's around you goin'
nuts. Who gives a shit?

♪ Fight fight fight
fight fight me ♪

The main rules for
Agnostic Front when I joined

was just three simple rules,
no girlfriends,

shave their head and dance hard.

That's it.
Everything else didn't matter.

Didn't even matter
if you sang in the mike,

you put the mike down,
who gives a shit?

Get in the pit
while we're playing.

On fire. Let's hear it, folks.

Now, that was "Agnostic Front."

Stay tuned for the launch.
High And Mighty.

Let's hear it
for "Agnostic Front."

Ah, this is my favorite photo
right here.

This is, uh, my guitar hero,
ha, Vinnie Stigma.

This is in Argentina,
I remember it clearly,

you know?
I would always do that.

Pick him up, during Crucified,
I think.

Pick him up, and, you know...

I could do that back then,
you know?

Then he was still Skinny Vinnie.

We used to call him
"Skinny Guinea."

-Look at him all ready.
-Good. Beautiful.

I didn't even see you come in.

How are you?

As long as you don't realize
everything else?

-Michael Jackson isn't...
-Of course.

He's doin' "Thriller."
You saw that?

He's doin' the "Thriller."
Look at him.

So, always through the years,

I'd buy Vinnie
his birthday cake,

since '86, I think it was.

This is a recent picture of him
playing in Agnostic Front

on tour, I think, in Germany?

It just signifies

the endurance
of his human spirit

to play rock and roll
in his own way

and so many people
have been touched by that.

-We're goin--
-How's the food, alright?

Oh, you got a bit of lipstick
on his face.

-Alright.
-Smile. Say "Cheese."

Cheese. Gob-a-goal.

I blinked.

He taught me
to believe in myself

when I was a teenager.

I loved the sound
of Agnostic Front

for it was real and raw...

and riveting and expressed

the anger that I felt about...

indecencies in society
and in mankind.

Um, but also gave us hope
and in unity in coming together

and a family without, like,
getting into your business,

allowing people to be
who they are,

and that's right for some time.

Just sign the back.

Okay, here we go.

Watch. One, two, three.

See that marker's dry
and it says "Happy birthday."

That's fuckin' entertainment,
motherfucker.

Now, that's goin' on my wall.

Sing it with me.

♪ Crucified ♪

♪ Crucified for your sins ♪

♪ Crucified ♪

♪ Crucified for your sins ♪

♪ Crucified ♪

♪ Crucified for your sins ♪

♪ Crucified ♪

♪ Crucified for your sins ♪♪

I got into punk
in the mid '70s

or early '70s, whatever

'cause I didn't like the disco,
th-that was a big thing, disco,

you know, and I, uh,
it wasn't my thing.

And I was always
a rock and roll guy.

I was always in bands,
I always liked guitar,

you know,
I was a big Jimi Hendrix fan

and just bein a-a rebel.

Hey, Mary, it's me, Vinnie.

-Vinnie, I know you.
-How are ya?

You know, I was thinkin' of you
the other day.

-Yeah? Oh, you too.
-You still got your band?

Yeah, I still got the band.

-Good, good. I'll see ya.
-Alright, Mary.

God bless.

This used to be an ink factory.

And, you know, like people,
there was a lotta jobs here.

And the jobs left,
because they turned

an ink factory into condos.

Now, you get like a person
livin' in this one big space

takin' pictures
of an egg on a chair.

I mean, you know?
Makes me wanna throw up.

Oh, the problem I have,
it used to be a neighborhood.

Now, it's...
Hey, Bobby!

-What neighborhood?
-How are ya? How you doin'?

-What's goin' on?
-Hey, Vinnots.

He's talkin'
about our old neighborhood.

Yeah, I was talkin' about
the neighborhood over there.

-How you feelin'? Alright?
-Yeah.

-Good, you look good.
-I'm 67 years old.

I know Vinnie
when he was a baby.

Every Saturday and Sunday,
we used to play stickball

on the block.

There used to be
the cars on the block

we used to get a hanger,
and open up the cars

and we push them down the block.

-Yeah, yeah.
-We played Spanish Harlem.

We played with people from the
other part of the neighborhood.

And the whole neighborhood
used to come down and bid on

the Italian guys
against the Spanish guys.

Yeah, yeah.

And the games
used to be $2000, 1500--

Yeah, it was great.
The tank was the homerun--

Tank was the homerun.

Then he had one he hit

the middle house
in the street.

And then not only that...
Hey, hello, hey, here we are.

Don't forget social club
right over here.

-We're gonna be there later.
-Okay.

-Goodbye, Cousin Vinnie.
-Bobby. Thank you. Bye.

They used to...
Right over there.

They used to have a bunch of...
It was a tire store.

And they...
On Sundays, they used to have

all these tires piled up,
so when I was a kid,

I used to get all the tires
and throw

all the tires in the street,

and, like, clog traffic up.

Heh! I don't believe
I did these things.

It was great.

Ah, let me walk
amongst the dead.

There is a building here,
my father owned

the bar right here once.

Too bad, he lost it, you know?

This building collapsed,
and well...

he lost the bar years ago due
to gambling. So I don't gamble.

This whole thing was the, uh,
like a one storey, you know.

Wow.

How did it collapse?

-Fire.
-Oh.

They called fire one day
and that was the end of that.

-Oh. Wow--
-You know?

-Anyway...
-Your father went to gamble?

Yeah, it's another story.

Thank God, them,
they liked my father.

My dad, uh...

Well, he was a union worker,
he was a, a truck driver,

him and my mother were married
for many years.

My father got mingled
up in a little, you know,

some mafia shit, you know?

My family didn't like it,
you know,

because we don't wanna
be involved.

You know, but you got
no choice, you know

and you gotta keep
your mouth shut,

and you know, it-it made
a wedge in my family,

you know, between...

loan sharks, the mafia,
you know?

I-i-it wouldn't have been
a surprise if we, they would

have found him dead somewhere
in the trunk of a car.

You know, because
he-he-he lived that life.

You know, it's not good
for bein' a-a family man.

You know what I mean?

Alright, then you tap.
See, that's what I'm missin'.

I didn't see that thing
over there.

Then just tap
whatever you want--

Is that tapped?
That's already tapped, right?

Then it's sent.

They have that noise?

That's the noise it makes
if it sends a message.

I guess I press this
and it goes back to the screen.

-Yeah, it's done.
-Okay.

-Kinda like text message.
-Kinda.

Yeah.

-You'll get it eventually.
-Yeah?

-Yeah.
-I hope so. I...

I'll get it, don't worry, this
way I could send you emails,

you know, when I go to Europe.

Yeah.

This is something I really

got to enjoy moving to Arizona,
by the way.

Never had a dishwasher.

Now, I'm in New York City,
a dishwasher?

I didn't even know
how to use it when I,

when I first moved here.
True story.

When I first moved here.

I-Is, you know, it was there
in the apartment complex

I was movin' to, so I was
washin' dishes by hand

and put 'em in there
so they could... dry off.

Just gettin' used
to this life, man.

We picked this place neutrally.

She's from Colorado,
I'm from New York,

and, uh, we've known each other
since 2002.

We met at, we met
at one of our shows,

um, my wife still has
the ticket stub

and we were always friends

staying in touch
with each other.

Coming from two relationships,
we were, like,

"Well, nobody wants
to give into their spot,"

like, their territory,
"Wait, you move in with me."

"No, you move with me,"
'cause you know how that is.

And, uh, my wife was comin' here
to finish her studies

and, like, this
is where I'll start.

And from there we'll end up
wherever we end up

We'll go back to New York
or Colorado

and we ended up stayin' here,

we started having babies.

When I was a kid,
I never had a routine like this

because, um, you know it's
funny, I don't remember any...

any routines at all.

If you scream,
I can't talk to you.

You know, leaving is hard,

especially my son.

Both my kids,
both Havi and Desi,

like, Havi didn't really bond
to me till she was like, two.

Because of me goin' away,
this-this one didn't create

some problem, you know,
like goin' on tours, you know?

I would come back and she
would take two or three days

to warm up to me,
'cause she was,

like, "Who are you again?"
you know?

So that kinda bothered me
a lot.

Mary Taylor talkin' to you from
the Cat Club in New York City

for the Underground Cafe.

I'm talking to you with Agnostic
Front here and they tell...

They're gonna tell us
a little bit about their band

and where they're from.

Uh, New York City, New York.

Basically, that's where
we're based.

Any future plans now?

Um... we're goin' on tour
tomorrow, actually.

We just came back,
from our second tour

and we'll be goin'
to Europe in December.

It's a East Coast tour for now

and then Europe in December
like he said.

What kind of band are you?

-Uh, more like, uh, uh...
-Uh--

You gotta come see us
to really know what it's about.

♪ Power the anti-social being ♪

♪ Human discharge ♪

♪ A fascist regime ♪

♪ Fighting in the street ♪

♪ They gent who saved us all ♪

♪ The anti-social
and gonna fall ♪♪

I hate being sick on tour, man.

Bein' sick on tour,
I get up every night.

I get up, I put
a fuckin' smile on my face,

and I play as hard as I can...

and then what are you gonna do?
You're there.

Well, thank God, y-you know,
y-y-you're not that sick

that you can do it, you know?

Well, right now, a few of us
don't look too good.

Yeah, well, a couple more days
and, you know,

we'll be home and then we'll
get the punk rock bowling.

You know, bein' on
the road, there's no sick days,

it doesn't exist, you know?

Uh, at least not for our band.

I know a lot of bands

that do take Mondays
and Tuesdays off

and possibly Wednesdays, but
they can, we can't, you know?

This, this machine
has to keep movin'

to make all ends meet
by the end of the...

By the end of the day,
you know.

Unfortunately, no sick days.

You go out there
and you tough it up.

That's okay, we-we've done it
our whole lives, no big deal.

Hi, you've reached the Miret's.

We can't take your call
right now.

-Because we're swimming!
-Because we're swimming!

Please leave a message.

Hey, babe, um, it's me.

I just wanna tell you
I love you and miss the kids.

You know, it's...

I-I know I was supposed
to call you around 4:00,

but, unfortunately, it's,
I know it's late,

you guys are probably in bed.

Fucking club didn't have
no internet.

Typical shit.

Felt sick. I don't feel good.

Exhausted...

And I feel super, super guilty
myself, you know? You're...

Like, I'm missin' our
anniversary, you know?

Even though I love what I do,
but I'm not here, and...

Sometimes I don't even know
if it's worth it,

you know? But, um...

I think you understand me,
I'm just...

Rather be there, but...

It is what it is.

The show's been pretty good.

Actually,
more than pretty good.

Who could ask for more, right?

I love you. Miss you.

Kisses to the babies.
Buh-bye.

Probably the single
hardest part of my life

has been leaving
my immediate family,

you know, it's always been
the hardest thing.

Um...

Leaving my children at home...

Or relationships,
you know, relationships,

I've been through a few.

You know, it's,
it's hard to keep both, um...

As much as you wanna keep both

and not until
this last ten years,

did-did I make a-a decision,

a-a formal decision,
a pretty strong decision

that I really wanna make
family work for me.

'Cause, um...
I'm really lucky

that I was still able to have
such a great relationship

with my daughter Nadia,
I really am.

Because, just think about it,
when I was touring back then,

we had no internet.

We had nothing, I would,
I would send a postcard.

By the time it came back
from Germany to her,

I already came back.

It was affecting her,
I could see it, you know?

I could feel it,
and at the same time

it was a horrible guilt on me.

You know, it was just...

I was a kid raising a kid.

And I was leavin' all the time,
goin' away all the time.

You know, she turned out
to be a-a-an amazing,

remarkable 29-year-old,
brilliant little girl,

I mean, she's still in my eyes,
my little girl.

But it was hard.

I, I fuckin' hated
that band for a, a long time.

Between just always being gone

and I didn't have a real way

to know he was
thinking about me.

He couldn't FaceTime me,
he couldn't text me,

he couldn't do all the things
that he can do

with the kids now,
so they know.

It was, it was this thing that

while other people's parents
were like, at home,

I was like, "Oh, mine is gone
for a few months."

In middle school,
people will start being, like,

"Oh, that's so cool,
your dad's in a band."

And that was the first time
I was like, "No, it's not.

It's not cool."

I think that when you're young,

you think that the thing that
someone spends the most time on

is the thing that
they care about most.

And then I just kind
of grew up a little bit.

and I understood, like,
it wasn't a position

he ever really
wanted to be in necessarily.

Like, he loves the music
he loves playing shows

but he didn't wanna be
away from me.

And that's also something
you can't process

when you're younger either.

Especially the way I was raised

you do what you want.

Back then m-myself and,
and Nadia's mother, Amy, we...

We're both in bands.
We both travel.

We're both doing our things.

So, uh...

it was normal.

You know,
I think with, this time around

with my,
with my wife and my kids

I've got
that really good blend

where in the very early stages

when, uh,
Nadia was a little girl

um, it was different.

You know, I was also younger.

And, um, and...

It-it was all
a whole different ball game.

You know, I was out a lot,
at the same time

back home, out a lot, I was
living completely different.

Living in abandoned buildings,
in vans, blah, blah, blah.

But when she came around,
w-we just

lived in a squat, you know?

Would you want Nadia to live

the life that you lived?

Um, actually I would
love Nadia to live my life

because Nadia's got the best
parents she could ever have.

She's been...Me and Amy,
both are, like, down to Earth

and we kinda, like,
see life the way we should see

and not like hidden, like,
I wish my mom and my dad

told me more
about certain things.

Well, I wish they cared more
about, like, things, like

we really care about
what my daughter does.

How her schooling,
we really care about.

We really care
about what she eats

and we care more.

And I wish I was
growin' up that way.

You know, we were just
growin' up ourselves...

and here we go,
we have a kid, too, so...

What the hell,
this is what we do

this is who we are,
this is what we like

this is our passion,
this is who we are

and you just tagged along.

You know? It is.

You had a friend
who did all these things.

-Right?
-In prison.

Yeah, 'cause I had all these

like, handkerchiefs
with them on it.

Yeah, I sent you handkerchiefs.

-This...
-I was so cute.

This, you guys sent me.

What the hell is that?

I don't know.
Your mom sent me that.

-Oh, my God.
-You were just a little girl.

Hold that up in prison too.

Goin' to prison
was my fault.

It really was because

I was living this life
thinking I cannot get caught

doing anything, anything.

I mean, going on the road

buying guns, drugs,
or anything,

like, I felt
like I couldn't be touched.

And in my whole mind
knowing that

all this stuff was illegal,
and never getting caught

for anything.

I don't know,
I can't even explain it.

And that's how
my whole life was

you know, like,
at that point.

And then, um...

I got desperate,
and my daughter was born

a week into it, I didn't have
anywhere for her to sleep.

She was sleeping in a drawer.

I felt like, "Oh, my God,
that's my daughter.

"She shouldn't be sleeping
in a drawer.

"She's my princess,
I need to go get her a crib.

I need to get everything
you need for a kid."

And panic, and I go
and buy all that stuff

then I started saying,
"Well, I need money,"

you know, so,
of course somebody said,

"Well, you take this
and bring it to here,"

and that's how I started,
you know?

I wasn't a drug dealer,
I was a mule.

But at the same time,
I didn't think anything of it

'til I became incarcerated.

I used to think just,
"Me, me, me whatever"

and I started saying, "Wow."

How it was effecting my,
my family.

Nobody told my mother.

My mother was the last
to find out.

And she found out, like,
eight months later.

Nobody wanted to tell her.

And, um, watching my daughter

just come to my visits
and just watch her

like, she wanted me
to leave with her.

And I couldn't.

And everything started
really sinkin' in

like, alright...

Forget about,
it's not just about me

look everybody, um,
I have a affect

or I'm hurting.

This next song is dedicated
to my daughter back home!

Goes out to little Nadia.

Also goes out to Amy.

This is called With Time.

Let's do it up
like old New York City.

Nice and slow till
we get everybody here dancin'.

It's weird because
it's like, when you're blood,

when you have blood family,
it's, like, you can't

pick your family.

You know, you have to accept
them for who they are and then,

you know, w-when, you know,
with friendship, it's, like...

Well, you can, you,
y-you can choose

to not be friends with someone

and be, like...

You know, but...

You know, they have
a soul connection, man.

And it's just, like,
i-i-it forms like

almost like a blood bond
with them.

It's, it's, it's,
it's an interesting

it's an interesting
relationship

and they pioneered this,

this, this, this scene.

You know what I mean? This...

T-the New York faction,
you know?

And, uh, you know,
they've changed

a lot of people's lives,
starting right here.

♪ Hardcore lives ♪

♪ One two jumpstart ♪

I can't think of anyone else
who was seven years old...

on stage
with Agnostic Front 1983.

My little brother, Freddy,

you know, seven years old,
gave him the mic

threw him out there,
"Sing." They don't.

♪ Claim your justice
it's your time ♪

♪ Blind justice
who am I? ♪

♪ There's no justice
it's your time ♪

♪ Blind justice ♪

Freddy used to,
he'd come with us

everywhere, you know?

Like, he was, like,
the mascot.

And, and I used to put him
on my shoulders

and play the guitar.

I thought that was
the hardest thing ever,

havin' a little kid singin'

and I'm on my shoulders, like...

It was...

That's what I love.

That's the time
I'd like to go back to.

You know, my intentions
were never to pass a torch

or anything like that,
you know?

And I didn't know he was gonna
follow my footsteps.

My intentions
were to get him away from...

his destructive father,
to be honest with you, you know?

I wanted to bring him
with me where I felt safe.

You know, my brother was
in more danger bein' at home

with, with his father,

than he was being with me
in the streets of New York

with criminals,
drug addicts, thugs, you know?

That's why I left home myself.

Obviously there was
some turmoil at home and stuff

and I feel like Roger
felt that and, you know...

A lot of times, you know,
removed me

from certain situations

to go be a part of his life

and his lifestyle
and what he was doing,

and that was his way
of like, "Hey,

"I can spend time
with my kid brother

"who I don't get
to see often and also,

"you know,
maybe give him a break

from things that are going on,
you know, back home, you know?"

My step-father, you never know
what mood he was in.

You never know he'd come home,
you never know, if he was bombed

or what was goin' on.

My mother was always working
and I was always

taking care
of my siblings, you know?

Well, you, you know
my story is, is your classic

you know, um,
American immigrant story.

You know what I mean,
like I came from Cuba

straight to, to America.

Learned English
here in this country.

It wasn't, it wasn't
an easy story, you know?

Like, my mom, she was
19 years old, three kids.

We had it rough the whole way.

Every year I was
in a different school,

sometimes,
two schools in a year

'cause we kept movin',
and I realized

we kept movin' because
we couldn't pay the rent.

So, we had to move
to another place.

I never had the chance
to make friends

so I didn't, I didn't bother.

I didn't bother, like,
why should I make friends

with someone when I know
I'm gonna be moving?

It's just, like, okay,
I'm gonna be packing

I'm gonna be moving, and
packing and moving and pack...

So, why make friends,
and I never had that

till later on,
and I went on my own, I...

You know,
when I discovered punk

and hardcore,
started listening to stuff

and goin' to shows.

That's it, then I knew I need
to be with these people.

These are, these are, like,
genuine friends for life.

And they have been
genuine friends for life.

I knew it.

I just knew it.

If I had to change
anything in my life...

If I had that chance,
I w-would probably have to go

to bein' that little boy again.

Part of my life I remember
is being in Cuba.

I remember living in,
in a nice two-storey home

in Havana, by the beach,
a white house.

I remember a sheepdog.

I remember all these things.

And I remember being happy.

There was a time, where
e-everybody was anti-Castro

and just wanted to leave.

Just didn't wanna live
under his regime.

We left under I think
it was something called

Freedom Flights, it was some
kind of a situation set up

to get all the Cubans
out of Cuba

that they didn't wanna be
under t-that regime, I guess.

When I came to this country

soon as I kinda remember...

everything goin' downhill.

There was violence, alcohol,
drugs, you know?

That's, that's basically it.

My step-father, he knew my love
for my real father whatever...

And he just wanted
to destroy that.

I remember, my father
once gave me a, a rabbit

for my birthday, the next day,
my step-father killed it

and made us eat it.

My father gave me
some fish, I remember...

And we had a little fish tank,
and he just went and smashed

the fish tank,
and a fish just jumped

lyin' the ground
till it was dead.

And I guess he wanted
to prove his point.

'Cause it's not physical abuse
when somebody takes a rabbit

and kills it
and feeds it to you.

It was a mental thing.

Then it started all like that,
and eventually became physical.

He became physical
with my mother.

Then he became physical
with us

and I would sit,
I wouldn't understand

why my mom would allow it.

There were times when my mother
jumped out of a moving car

just to get away from him.

She opened the door
and j-jumped out.

There was a time
my mother checked herself

into a mental institution

for a good month,
just to get away from it.

But somehow,
she always went back.

I couldn't kinda get it.

I think I took a lot
of the abuse

or the beatings myself
because I wanted to protect

my brothers and sisters.

My own brother almost
killed him a couple of times.

Me, myself, I had to leave
'cause I was gonna kill him.

And it was just like,
when is this gonna stop

when somebody actually does

kill this person
and someone's gonna go to jail

or someone's gonna die.

Sure as hell,
my mother had reached her

breaking point too,
she just pulled out a gun,

she shot him.

She shot him a couple of times.

And then, after she shot him
a couple of times

she went to go visit him
in hospital.

And he just sat there,
scared to death.

Talk about fear,
that was, that was

the last time, uh,
they were together.

And these were all things
that I lived with

and...what I got out of it

was that you can become
that same monster

or you could choose
to be a different person.

And I chose
to be a different person.

Regardless of,
of how dysfunctional

one's family may be,

you know,
you always strive to...

try to make it better.

Make it better for yourself,

you know, and obviously,
most importantly,

make it better for the future
generation, your kids.

I think he's the way he is

because of our life growin' up.

It was not easy.

Uh, I think a lot
of people who said

"We weren't gonna make it,
and we don't stand a chance."

Well, here we are.

It's just hard to believe

that this is February, huh?

It's so beautiful.

Come on, buddy.

He's human.

He's just a guy.

And there's a lot more to him

than just...AF.

AF is, it's a huge part

of his identity, you know?

It's, it's just
ingrained in him.

And I don't think that he
really knows what else to do.

We have people come up to us

in random places,
anywhere in the world

and they tell Roger, tears
streaming down their face,

"You know,
you really helped me."

You just feel so grateful
and you're just, like, "Wow."

Wow, you really touched
those people

in their most vulnerable
and painful places

in their life,
and you helped them survive.

And you helped them
get through it

just through your music,
just through what you love

and what you care about,
and I love that about him.

And he does so much
for so many people

that they could never know

unless the rug is pulled out
from underneath him

and he's gone or he stops.

Then you're gonna feel, like,
it'll be like, "Oh, fuck.

You know, Roger really meant
a lot to all of us."

I don't know,
he's just reached a certain age

where he can't do
this forever.

If I could change one thing

about my father...

It would be to take care
of himself

because he overextends
himself for people.

And...doesn't do enough
for himself.

Yeah.

Here we are. Grab your stuff.

Well, are we ready to go?

-You're not ready to go?
-Yeah.

I don't even know when,
but it's been a few years now,

um, R-Roger just started

feeling dizzy.

And then, one day...

I think, we were going
to get sushi or something,

we were just driving,
and all of a sudden

he just broke into a sweat.

And he let go
of the steering wheel

and he started screaming,

"Babe, babe, babe, help me"

and he was crying.

And I freaked out and I grabbed
the steering wheel

and I, I yelled at him.

"Put your foot on the brake."

And I directed the car
to the side of the road

and I reached over
through the car and parked

and he was just literally
tearing at, reaching for me

with his eyes closed,
just freaking out

and I didn't know
what the hell to do.

And he just said,
"I-I'm spinning, I'm spinning."

And I immediately
just jumped out of the car

and I was trying
to push him over

to the passenger seat,
but he was too big for me,

I couldn't 'cause there was,
like, a console in the middle.

So I instead end up directing
traffic out of the way

so I can stay and try to figure
out what the hell to do

and I finally just
called my doctor

and she's like, "You need
to take him to the ER right now.

He may have
had a heart attack."

And we just looked at each
other and we were, like,

"What the fuck is happening?"

The way, um, uh, we do it,
is we make that neck

and then,
we dissect under the skin

to put that device in.

So, that dissection creates
some tension

that's gonna last
for a couple of days

and then will go away.

But right now, today,

you should not be having
any pain in me pushing on it.

-No, I don't.
-Okay.

And then you moving
the arm is not...

No, this is...
I'm fine with it.

Perfect. Now you feel it, right?

-When you--
-Yeah.

So it's sitting right there,
it's watching your heart

constantly, we're already
receiving reports.

-You're receiving...
-There's nothing.

There's no arrhythmia so far.
So this is good.

And this is gonna stay there
for up to three years.

And, um,
if anything shows up,

we'll call you right away.

The heart has four chambers

and these bottom chambers
are called the ventricles.

The top chambers, this,
this one and this one

are called the atrium.

In your situation,
this and this are very large.

You know,
we grade the enlargement

between mild, moderate,
severe.

Your situation was severe
enlargement of both atrium.

The reason I wanted to do this
because I wanna

make sure
that there is no arrhythmia

that's causing these large,
top chambers to be enlarged

because I don't have
any other answer.

We looked at it, you know,
we studied everything

I don't have a good reason of

why these top chambers
are enlarged.

So, the plan we'll see you,
um, let's plan on...

For now we're still...

we still don't know
what's wrong with him.

He doesn't do drugs,
he doesn't do...

He doesn't drink,
you know, like, all...

None of it makes sense
to anyone, to us,

and those top chambers
should be for a man

who's six foot four,

Roger's not,
he's five foot nine.

And, um, we,
he tries to ignore it

and he tries to just, um,

keep focus on something else,

"I gotta work,
I gotta do this."

We don't know
what we're dealing with

and we don't know why,
so we just sort of take it

day by day and...

We really don't... There's
a whole lot of, we don't know.

But it's scary.

I don't know, there's just
a whole lot of worrying.

He forgets to take care
of himself

and by the time
something does come up

I think he feels two things

frustrated that he doesn't know
where to start

and afraid,
you know, because...

he doesn't wanna die, you know?

I think that,
he carries so much weight

of a lot of different people
in his life.

Well, what would,
what would happen to them,

you know, if something
happened to him?

Well, I think if he would just,

you know, not be,
be so stress over everything.

You know,
he's doin' a million things.

He's fixin' a car,
he's fixin' the electricity

h-he's puttin' up a fence,
he's...

The guy is constantly
gotta be doing something.

You know what I mean?
He can't rest.

You know what I mean?

And I-I think
if he would just chill more,

it'll be better for him.

Do you worry about him at all?

I always worry about him...

you know?

He's his own worst enemy.

Um...

I don't know , man, like...

You know, I think,
I think three weeks

is, is a, is a lot
if you ask me, you know?

But it's going out
more than three weeks,

twenty-four days max,
you know, that's, that's all

I can do, I wanna be back
with my family...

Roger is a complete
control freak

as long as he has control
over the situation...

I think it's kind of...

It's all good.

Then you, I mean, what do they
thinking about?

They don't want us to play here

or they don't want us to play
there

but they wanna be exclusive...

This is something
that he has

absolutely no control over.

And I think that drives him
even crazier.

You know, you get this,
you get that

you get sick,
I mean, everybody gets sick...

I wanna bring J.
I gotta bring Mosh.

Mosh. You know Mosh?

He's dealing with the heart...

That's serious shit.

Now, where are we flyin' to?

Direct, right?

Talk to Roger today?

Nah, I talk to him
I go through you, I ca, I ca...

I text him
and I says I'm with you.

That's how he knows.

Roger's, his, his heart

that's a,
that's a serious thing.

Yeah...yeah.

Uh...

My name is Roger Miret.

I'm 50 years old.

Lead singer for Agnostic Front

and I'm...

Fuck.

I'm just a,
a normal human being.

I'm just like you.

And sometimes your voice
when you need to say something

and you can't.

This is my mom.

-Say hello.
-Hello.

Sometimes just so humanitarian

that's really all I want
from life.

I don't, I don't want

any other type of success.

All I ever wanted
since I was a kid

was just, just to be heard.

Screaming for a change,
I'm screaming to be heard.

I think I've said a lot of the
stuff I wanted to say, but...

It takes about a minute
to operate...

If I'm cut short right now

I don't feel like I've said
everything I had to say.

I feel like the feature is
still isn't written, you know?

-What's up, Freddy?
-See that?

There you go.

Oh, what's up, brother?

-How are you?
-How's everything?

-What's going on there?
-What's going on?

I just gotta register.

-What's up, guys?
-Hi.

I could stop doin'
what I'm doin' if I wanted to.

But...I don't want to.

This song is called
United And Strong.

In other words, it's unite.

If we all unite,

we'd be stronger.

With no sense of fight
among each other.

Love the whole fucking world
out there that hates us, man.

So, that's all,
stick together, we unite.

We fight them.

That's what
it's all about, man.

That's what hardcore's
all about

that what
I got into music for.

I'm tired of all this
fuckin' people

putting us down, man.

Stick together,
we can do it the right way.

Alright? this song's called...

Hardcore is definitely
something

that's been very misunderstood.

It was really, it was really
a call for justice

you know what I mean,
it was really

questioning authority,
questioning society

questioning religion,
just a call for justice,

that's what
it's always been to me.

You could say
it's turned into a lifestyle

but that is a misjudgment too

'cause Adidas is a lifestyle,
you know?

I've always said that to me

it's just a good judgement
of who you are.

If you can stand
in front of that mirror

and look at yourself

and feel honest and genuine

with yourself,

then, to me,

that's being what
I like to grasp as hardcore

like, genuine and real
passion, you know?

When I got more involved
within the hardcore communities

obviously, in the early stages

and, um, I found people that
I-I felt we were just like me,

misfits, outcasts,
rebels, you know?

Everything that screamed me

and I, it was so great
to finally find people

that I felt,
I could be a part of

and, and, and it was just good

It felt like I found home,
you know?

Okay.

Franny!
Alright, this is for Franny.

-Franny!
-Franny!

Say hello to the camera, Franny.

Hello, Franny.

Yo, this is Franny. Take
a picture of me and Franny.

-Yay.
-Yay.

Franny style.

You ready?

You can strap on the headphones
and feel like somebody knew

where you were comin' from,
you know?

You didn't have to worry
about it, you know?

The first three
Agnostic Front albums,

I'd sit on my mom's
back porch, you know,

tryin' to figure life out
and shit, you know?

And it was this reality,
it felt,

you know, like,
these motherfuckers knew

what was going on, and I
didn't feel so alone, you know?

And I was, like,
goddamn 12 or 13,

you know what I mean?

That's, that's truth.

It's all about honesty
and truth, you know?

Be real. Do what you do.

And be who you are.

You can't really lose
on that end, can you?

Like, at all.

Victim In Pain.

Public Assistance.

Police Violence.

Tonight's the first night
with my implant...

and I'm sure when I hit
the stage I'm just gonna

become who I,
who I normally become

but I need to, like, coast,
I need to coast

into a comfort level.

I've been nervous
ever since I found out

I had that bullshit
little heart attack...

I've been worr...
I'm nervous.

-Whenever you're ready.
-I'm gonna go up, uh...

That's like a new thing
I have now

it's fucking with my head.

It's a little scary.

Maybe I am playing
Russian roulette,

maybe I'm not, but...

you know, I've always said,
you know,

do whatever you wanna do,

and believe whatever
you believe to do

till its full intent,
you know?

Whatever that is.

I've always said I want to do
what I love to do

till, till the day I die.

Whatever that day is,

if it's right there and then,
that's what it is.

Everybody out there is ready?

Welcome to the hardcore show!

Are we gonna play, Berlin?

Do you wanna hear another song?

♪ From the east coast ♪

♪ To the west coast ♪

♪ Gotta gotta gotta go ♪

Two, three, four...

♪ Two sounds of a revolution ♪

♪ Gotta gotta gotta go ♪

♪ In our hearts
and in our souls ♪

♪ Gotta gotta gotta go ♪

♪ United we stand
divided we fall ♪

♪ Gotta gotta gotta go ♪

Hands up, everybody!

Oye! Oye!

Oye! Oye! Oye!

Oye! Oye!

♪ Can't keep touch
with you or me ♪

♪ You gotta gotta gotta go ♪

♪ Need sense of security ♪

♪ Gotta gotta gotta go ♪

♪ Want to live my life for me ♪

♪ Gotta gotta gotta go ♪

♪ Why can't they just
let me be ♪

♪ Gotta gotta gotta go ♪

♪ Say I'm crazy ♪

♪ Just brain dead ♪

♪ Planting thoughts ♪

♪ Within my head ♪

♪ Can't ♪
♪ Believe ♪

♪ What I've said ♪

I can't hear you!

♪ What has become of me ♪

♪ What... ♪

♪ Has become of me ♪

You guys are fucking great.

Hands up to the stage.

Oye! Oye!

Oye! Oye! Oye!

Oye! Oye! Oye!

Oye! Oye! Oye!

♪ Don't believe
what you've been told ♪

♪ Gotta gotta gotta go ♪

♪ Never seen no streets
paved in gold ♪

♪ Gotta gotta gotta go ♪

♪ Mindless violence ruined me ♪

♪ Gotta gotta gotta go ♪

♪ No such thing
as something friend ♪

♪ Gotta gotta gotta go ♪

♪ Let's go ♪

♪ Say I'm crazy ♪

♪ The changes
that were hardly noticed ♪

♪ Until time itself became
a chain ♪

♪ Once hot blood began
to cool ♪

♪ My ever slowing heart beat
in vain ♪

♪ The blood the honor
the truth ♪

♪ From the nightmare ♪

♪ The blood the honor
the truth ♪

♪ Can be part
of our lives again ♪

♪ From the nightmare I woke up
in another dream ♪

♪ The spirits of
a broken sky ♪

♪ Try to distill a cure
for the plague ♪

♪ That's put to rest
everything ♪

♪ I once felt inside ♪

♪ The blood the honor
the truth ♪

♪ Thought it would never end ♪

♪ The blood the honor
the truth ♪

♪ Can be part
of our lives again ♪

♪ From this nightmare
I wake in a dream ♪

♪ And stare at
the unbroken sky ♪

♪ Try to distill a cure
for the plague... ♪♪

We're enjoying our retirement.

We're living our time out

while we're young and youthful,

and enjoyin' it.

And then, when we get old,
fuck it, we'll go work.

We'll figure it out
like we've always done.

We've always figured it out

Uh, how do you grow out
of a culture? You know I mean?

it's not like you're growing
out of a shirt or shoes.

You know, I mean,,
you-your foot gets bigger,

but either you do it because you
love it or you don't it.

You're a band,
you know that means?

Once you're in
you can't get out.