Thanks to Jason who took the time to tell the story of Face It Fanzine and his involvement in the hardcore scene!

" A little history: In 1986, I first discovered Hardcore (this year I now see being called the beginning of the second generation of what was the original scene). My friend's older brother (by a good 5 or 6 years) found NYHC in its earliest incarnation. When he wasn't around we would play his records & make tapes. Hardcore was just perfect to skate to. I started going to shows in 1987. In 1989 I published Face It Fanzine #1, "short & sloppy but a decent first issue". Maximum Rock N Roll somehow got a copy and published my address. I was swamped with letters and a few months later #2 came out. I also produced a 7" compilation with the help of Common Cause Records, Don Fury & Jordin Isip. By mistake the record was put out under the label Scooby-Doo Records. I had originally started to advertise the label as Straight Path Records. Although in hindsight, Face It Records would probably have been best. There is something to be said for continuity. Scooby-Doo was a last minute mix-up as was the Krakdown song name on the label, it should read “Sock Woman”, Mental Abuse was an old band they were covering. These first projects were really just for fun. By 1990 the New York Scene had collapsed. CBGB's stopped doing shows again, the Pyramid club really wasn't happening either. The Anthrax Club in Connecticut was closed because of noise complaints from the local community. A show would happen here and there at different locations but nothing regular except for ABC no Rio. ABC had the last great shows but Mikey B.S. (who organized the shows) and his little friends turned out to be a real problem. That place could have been great. I tried organizing shows at a club called the Right Track Inn (a club with a history in regards to Hardcore). I did 2 shows there. The guy who owned the club, I forget his name, stiffed me both times. Most of the bands did not get paid. The few that did, I paid out of pocket with what I had on me at the time, which was not much. I remember Mark Ryan from Supertouch being a little annoyed. I tried one more show but moved the action to a club called Feburarys. I had Backbone & Kingpin from Boston and Gridlock from Connecticut come down but right before we all walked in the door we were notified of a no dancing or diving rule. Everybody just went home (Integrity from Cleveland was also booked, but luckily canceled). The guys from Kingpin & Gridlock crashed at my place. I paid the bands by giving them each a stack of "Seeing With New Eyes" records to sell when they got home. I was going to put out the Kingpin 7" at the time (I still have a copy of the pretape, it just never went into production). The last issue of Face it was #3, by this time Vegan Reich was just entering the scene. I had been raised as a Vegetarian and Straight Edge was very important to me (I have 2 sXe tattoos). The more aggressive approach to Animal Rights appealed to me. To this day, Animal Liberation & Environmental Awareness have remained very dear to my heart. I think the Vegan Reich interview is the best thing in those early projects. #3 was more emblematic of what was going on in sXe at the time. What was once a more generic “unity”, “youth crew” concept was fading away and those few straight edge kids who remained were following Ray of Today into ISKCON. The only thing I liked about ISKCON was that they were at least Vegetarians. I have never been a fan of organized religion. However, the real problem are these “brain dead” people who perpetuate this world society of flesh & skin consumption, who think torturing for science is fine and who are willing to drown in there own shit for shiny objects. The world is a real horror show. This planet and every being on it suffers because of greed, selfishness, and ignorance. Sean (Vegan Reich) was really cool and I remember him putting me in touch with the guys in Raid. To this day I still can't imagine being a Vegan in Texas, talk about being in the belly of the beast. I graduated High School in 1991, the NY scene was dead, my friends all became Hare Krsnas or grew up & away. At the time I was still working on the Kingpin 7" and I was going to publish Raging Doughboy Fanzine for my friend Bill. I was also going to put out the Refuse 7" (Seattle sXe band). I started college, lost interest in Hardcore, dropped these last projects & basically gave my record collection away. However, I will always be grateful for the experiences and lessons learned from my participation in the Hardcore scene. These days I make my living as an artist & art restorer and help run a local animal rescue organization. If you are interested in seeing some more old show pictures, flyers and assorted oddities check out: http://faceitfanzine.50megs.com/index.html " - Jason