M
y attitude is always defined by the age-old saying, “Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it.” The saying applies to food, people, trends and–in particular–music. I suggest giving hardcore a try. For me, hardcore’s image in the mainstream is a textbook case of the fear of the unknown. In West Chester the genre has made an impression that many are unaware of. For instance, West Chester is home to Harvcore Records, a label run by Vince Spina and his family. Vince isn’t operating under a selfish desire for fame and fortune– he just does it for love of the music. Hardcore musicians don’t sit around composing their music to sell on iTunes and market to eighth graders. I sat down with Vince recently to chat about Harvcore, their bands and the genre in general.
Harvcore
Records Halloween brings out the heavy and haunting in all of us, but for West Chester-based hardcore label Harvcore Records, that brutal, dark nature is right on the surface all year long. Story Paul Imburgia
How did the label start? I had been in a band and had done some touring. In punk rock and hardcore music it’s a do-it-yourself environment, so it was just something that I thought would be fun and cool to do to help support some up-and-coming bands. How is Harvcore linked to West Chester? Well, we’re based here, and as far as bands I’ve released, I did Edgewise and Brody. Edgewise was really a West Chester band, and Brody was, more or less, from this area. There’s been plenty of shows in West Chester, many we’ve put on. Some of the record stores, ones that aren’t even around anymore, have sold our stuff. I think when I first started putting records out I wanted to keep it local because I thought that there were a lot of good bands in this area, and I wanted to give them an opportunity to get records out. What sort of contributions has Harvcore made to the scene? Back when I first started, before the internet, it was kind of cool just getting bands out there that maybe otherwise would have never been heard. Shadow Season is a prime example of a band that got out there that maybe would have never put out a record if it weren’t for me, and I think they’re an amazing group that sort of helped define what emo was. I saw online recently that someone up in Canada was talking about a CD that I put out, and I commented, “Yo, I still have some of those at home!” We’ve also hosted bands–bands staying in my house, bands playing in my basement. Screeching Weasel played in my basement. It’s funny because at the time I didn’t think anything of it–back then it was just some smelly guys that needed somewhere to stay–but now people think that’s the craziest thing ever. And I’ve actually put out some bands where some members went on to be in
OCTOBER 2012 | thewcpress.com
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