Hardcore Emotion

The word "hardcore" has started to become a rather tired description of a genre seemingly deserving of its sleepy moniker; the hardcore scene has become as stale and formulaic as the music it initially was starkly in contrast to. But as louder, faster and angrier have all lost their nascent allure, a new breed of hardcore is being borne by those bands not afraid to temper their anger with words and music of a more subtle and emotive variety. Foremost among these bands is New Jersey's Thursday.
Originally formed in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1998, the members of Thursday - Geoff Rickly (vocals), Tom Keeley (guitar), Steve Pedulla (guitar), Tim Payne (bass) and Tucker Rule (drums) - immediately began making a name for themselves with their passionate live performances, playing with bands like At The Drive In, Hot Water Music and Boy Sets Fire. With their fan base set, the quintet released Waiting on Eyeball Records. Soon after, they were signed by Victory Records, and went into the studio to records the stunning Full Collapse. Touring consistently since the release of Full Collapse, Thursday continues to break into territories previously uncharted. Their video for "Understanding In a Car Crash" has been receiving airplay on MTV2, and the band is about to embark on a string of tour dates that will take them across the nation and back with bands like Sick of It All, The Movielife and Sparta. The Synthesis recently spoke with guitarist Thursday guitarist Steve Pedulla as he prepared himself for the arduous touring ahead.

How do you feel about being on MTV2? They've been spinning your video quite a bit.
It's really surprising to us. We're definitely happy with the fact that they're supporting us. I mean, we did a really low-budget video. We were still happy with the way it came out, but we're just glad they were able to look past that.

It seems like you guys have come up pretty fast, from being on a small regional label to being on Victory and on MTV. Do you think it's just a matter of being at the right place at the right time?
I think it's a bit of everything - it's blowing our minds, too, how fast this is all happening. But there's definitely something to be said for hard work. Last year we were on the road for the better part of nine months, so we're definitely trying to get out there and tour as much as possible, and that's a big part of it. People just seem to be really liking the record.

It's a great record. But I wouldn't have thought that you guys would be on Victory. To me Victory's always been synonymous with like super-hardcore bands. How did that whole thing happen?
Well our first records came out on Eyeball Records, which our friend runs, which was great - we love everyone at Eyeball Records. He was the one that said "Look, I'm not gonna put out another record for you guys, you need to be on a bigger label," and he was the one who kind of set that whole thing up. And as far as Victory goes, they had kind of already made the leap in terms of changing their style with Boy Set Fire, but at first it was still like, whoa, it's weird that weird on Victory because we're not necessarily a "Victory band," but it's worked out really well. And they've done a great job.

What kind of influences do you guys have as a band? There seems to be a little bit of everything floating around in your music.
We all kind of grew up on hardcore - bands like Quicksand, Hot Water Music, stuff like that. So as a band we all have a hardcore foundation as kind of a background, but from there we all listen to a wide variety of different musical styles. The bass player and myself are actually big indie-rock fans. Our drummer is a huge Fiona Apple fan.

Do you ever feel weird about the poppier aspects of your sound?
It's something that we've always dealt with. One of our earliest shows as a group was at a metal-fest, and it actually went over pretty well. One of the things I'm most proud of with the band is the whole crossover factor. We just did a tour with Saves The Day, and people were like, "Saves the day is so different from you guys, how's that going to work?" But it worked really well. And we're getting ready to go out with Sick of It All. I don't know how that one's going to go - I hope [it will go] well - but we'll see. From our past experiences, it seems to work. People who like pop-music seem to like us, and people who like heavy stuff like us.

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