American Tourist | Antlers | The Catalyst | Cloak/Dagger | Furnace | Government Warning | Mild Winter | Police and Thieves | Punch You in the Face Big! | Savage Land
Government Warning
http://www.myspace.com/governmentwarningrva
Scene Point Blank:How many times have you played MACRoCk and what do you expect from this year's MACRoCk as it is now fully student run?
Alex DiMattesa: We played MACRoCk in 2006 with Fucked Up, Cloak/Dagger, Cold World, Down to Nothing, Direct Control, and a bunch more. It was awesome. Our particular show was done by our friend Phil Matthews who had his stuff together and knew what he was doing so the show went off perfectly and was a great time.
I've been to MACRoCk maybe four times in the past, it always seemed as though the students where the ones running everything anyways. I'm sure the back-end stuff will be a little more difficult this year without school support (funding, venues, etc), but I bet once that stuff is taken care of, it should go off fine. I feel like with an event like MACRoCk, you are going to have people that know what they are doing, and also people that have no clue what they are doing. Either way it's cool that everyone comes together to help put something like this on.
Scene Point Blank:What bands are you looking forward to seeing at this years event?
Alex DiMattesa: Most of the bands on the show we are playing, Double Negative, Cloak/Dagger, Deep Sleep, The Ladies, Crossed Eyes, Swamp Thing, Naysayer, Police and Thieves all of those bands on that show.
Scene Point Blank:What are you looking forward to besides the music this year?
Alex DiMattesa: Well I'm on a label panel for my record label (Grave Mistake Records), that and the label expo are always kind of fun. The label panel a couple years ago had Jade Tree and I think Magic Bullet, it was pretty informative. I forget who else is on it this year though. Also Brian Walsby from Double Negative (author / illustrator of Manchild) is on a panel as well, so that should be cool. We'll see.
Scene Point Blank:What are your thoughts on the independent/punk scene in Harrisonburg? I've always viewed it as a bit of a hidden gem, but I'm obviously a bit biased.
Alex DiMattesa: Harrisonburg has always been pretty cool as far as I can tell. I've always had the impression that since it's a small town in the mountains of Virginia, everyone has sort of had to combine forces to make the best of it. For hardcore it's always been cool, I haven't been to a show there in a while but there were some great shows there. Especially when the out-of-towners from Richmond, DC, and VB all came, then it was a guaranteed good time.
Scene Point Blank:Probably more of a request then a question, but seeing you guys cover Minor Threat at the outdoor WND show with Fucked Up was awesome. What are the chances of some more covers at MACRoCk?
Alex DiMattesa: We used to have like anywhere from two to five covers in our set for a while (depending on how drunk the crowd / band was) and people would give us shit calling us a cover band. Whatever, they are fun to play. Since then we've trimmed down the covers to one or even none a set, but you might hear some Reagan Youth and maybe some Battalion of Saints during our set at MACRoCk... those are the newest ones we've learned.
Scene Point Blank:What are the future plans for Government Warning? Any new releases or tours?
Alex DiMattesa: We are about seven songs into writing a new LP ... that should be out this year on No Way/Grave Mistake. We are doing NYC, PA, and DC in May ... hopefully more touring this summer. We want to go to Europe so maybe we can make that happen. Thanks for the interview.
