Max Ward Interview | Razorcake

The interview ran in Razorcake #121​, which can be found here-
razorcake.myshopify.com/produ...
For over thirty years Max Ward has been a central figure in the ever-evolving world of DIY hardcore, grindcore, powerviolence, and everything in between. Max’s involvement in the Bay Area scene during the ‘90s and impressive pedigree of former bands (Plutocracy, Spazz, What Happens Next?, Scholastic Deth) has made his name synonymous with one word: thrash! After all, he did start a label called 625 Thrashcore to honor and uphold the spirit of his earliest influences such as Heresy and Lärm by releasing records from bands that share the passion for all things fast! Initially releasing records from his beloved Bay Area scene, Max quickly found himself receiving demo tapes and letters from bands from all corners of the world-and in some cases working with those bands to get proper releases out and serve them the justice he felt they deserved, thus solidifying his status as a global thrashcore kingpin.
Things slowed down a bit for the label while Max pursued a career in academia. He is currently a professor teaching Japanese and East Asian history with an emphasis on social theory, ideology, and political thought. Move the fuck over Milo and Graffin! Max was kind enough to set aside some time for me for a Zoom interview where we discussed his humble beginnings, how he’s managed to keep his passion for the thrash, and which bands you should watch out for in the near future!
Interview and intro by Juan Espinosa
Video edited by Nick Riggs
A CA20 Installment
A Collection of California Artists’ Voices in the New Decade
Funded by the California Arts Council

[@Surreal_Wizard]

Thanks for sharing! Old, long, long ago Bay Area thrasher here. I still have a "Morgion" demo tape (Rabid Decay) that I got from this guy at a show (30+ years ago), and of course I still have a couple Plutocracy EP's lying somewhere about. Good to see he's still doing it!

[@OrlandoGonzalez-rn8nm]

Hey Max, Rigo here. Still alive and kicking. We go way back to 1990 when I met you, Thomas, Billy and Kendrid (RIP).

[@slavesarentweall7839]

Is that a bastard skull hoodie? I fucking want one. I have a 20 year old tshirt, but a hoodie. Hirax Max, fuck yeah!

[@ivangarcia195]

wanna sell that 20 year old shirt?

[@DisFunctor]

I was a little bit late to the party, but after moving to the US in the early 2000s, discovering Spazz and 625 Thrash back in 2004-ish, right in the middle of high school was life-changing. Went from listening to Iron Maiden as a kid, then Pantera and Sepultura, nu-metal and pop-punk in my early teens (which I denied at the time cause if you liked metal you were only supposed to listen to metal, silly as that sounds. Looking back, I think the whole genre wars thing was manufactured nonsense. I mean there's a reason nowadays you see younger people making all sorts of songs go viral on tiktok ranging from classic rock to glam metal, Russian post punk, pop punk, hip hop, Technical Death Metal and everything in between), then got into thrash metal, Death Metal, Relapse stuff (Pig Destroyer, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Dillinger, Mastodon), etc, and it was all cool, but I had never vibed with anything else nearly as much as I did with Spazz, Charles Bronson, and Ultimate Warriors... high-energy aggressive music with clever/ironic funny lyrics sometimes singing about stuff I cared about: wrestling, skateboarding, and just having fun. Behind the facade, I was, and always have been, truly a nerd but back then it was not as socially accepted as it is now, so Scholastic Deth was also a huge deal to me. Also got into hip hop through Spazz, Plutocracy, and No Less, which was cool, cause hip hop was all the rage back then and I loved the aesthetics, but hadn't felt drawn enough to explore the music in depth till I listened to some of those beats and samples (Now 50% More Pants-Shitting remains one of my all-time favorite tunes). These days I enjoy all sorts of music from all scenes and all decades, and see a lot of cross-pollination going on in newer music, but still nothing ticks as many checkboxes in an authentic way as those bands did.

[@nesslessman6379]

Sup Max! Long time no see bro. Good to hear your voice.

[@dinkystick]

dang he talked about hackney bros!! sons of the guys in the band death from Detroit!

[@beater82]

Got some ol' school Concrete Sox on spotify while working out right now. Max turned me on to this stuff in high school (along with Heresy, Carcass, Terrorizer, etc.) I'm glad to see he's doing good.

[@misplacedfolder4806]

Didnt max break edge?