11 Questions with Ralph Ferrara of Haunted Hotel Records
1. Where are you from?
I'm from Yonkers / Woodlawn / Bronx NY - A border Jumper if you will
2. What do you think about chaos magic?
I have no fucking idea what you are talking about
3. When and why did you start your label?
Label started officially in 2001 when me and my old friend Carlos were hanging out one night...drinking some beers at his place , spinning some records , just admiring the sounds and the actual craftmanship of the record....we thought it'd be cool to make our own. Carlos was my partner for HHR01 and HHR02 but he moved out of NY shortly after and i kept it going since. First release came out Feb 2002.
4. What was your first concert?
Asides from a few free punk shows at a local record shop (ROCKIN' REX IN YONKERS) , my first show was the NYHC BBQ in Peekskill NY in October or November 1994. The lineup was amazing. Got to see WARZONE , 25 TA LIFE , REJUVENATE , MERAUDER , CROWN OF THORNZ , AWKWARD THOUGHT , MAXIMUM PENALTY , DARKSIDE NYC + many more. It was raining out, but tents were up. $10 all you could eat and drink. Gamechanger for me. My roots are planted in the NYHC and NYC punk scenes.
5. How did you get into the genre(s)?
As a youngster i never slept, i stayed up all night listening to the radio. In the late 80's and early 90's i was a 1000% hip hop head. I used to stay up and listen to this awesome hip hop show on WNYU 89.1 - but before the hip hop show was the punk/hc show called Crucial Chaos. Sometimes i'd tune in early and catch a few HC tracks....then i started listening and recording the whole show....got hooked. But didnt know where to or how to see bands / connect with others til 1994 when i started hanging out on the reg at ROCKIN' REX. It was a killer little record store that had free shows almost every weekend. Some pretty big names would come thru at times. It was small, intimate, personal.
As far as getting into Grindcore or faster HC ......It was never fast enough for me. I was loving my local hc / punk scene but always LOVED the faster more aggressive bands. I heard Anal Cunt in 94....i was floored. I wanted to hear more stuff like that. When i found out there was a whole genre that sounded like that i went ALL IN.
6. Three biggest influences?
MONEY POWER RESPECT
7. How do you feel about the current state of the community or communities you’re apart of?
Its a great time to be involved. So many KILLLLLLER bands out there right now...and i see ALOT of people supporting one another and making it work!
I feel band for people who feel they are too old to still be checking out new bands. New crop is DUSTING all the old bands....they figured out a formula to play faster and more nasty! Its really a golden era!
8. What are some of your favorite new bands?
That's tough cause it seems like bands have been around a minute now....
but off the top i gotta say SULFURIC CAUTERY is just fucking devastating. Un-fucking-touchable. 2 bands i recently saw live that really blew me away were HEALER from Buffalo and OLOR A MUERTE from NYC. I could go on and on here. There's so much. Also just got the BORKENLAYNE cd which was amazing.
9. What is a good memory you recall from being on tour?
HAHAHHA - jeez....we were just talking about this a few days ago....when we bought Agathocles here in 2016 we got real stupid and those guys were wrapping leftover spaghetti around there dicks and assholes etc....then we left that leftover food in the 1000 degree van...we think some animal somehow got in the van and ate the pasta and died. We could not get the stench out of the van for the rest of the tour (like 5 more days). It was making us ill. At the time it wasn't funny but now it is.
10. Three Favorite places to eat in the US?
TOTAL pizza snob here. Cafe al mercato On Arthur ave has the best pizza on earth. San loco mexican in NYC , and alot of them mexican joints out in Cali.
11. If you had to write your own eulogy, what would it be?
I just hope people don't think i'm a dick. I pride myself on being an approachable dude. There's too much clique bullshit and scene snobs out there....i just hope i'm never regarded as one.
Comments
Post a Comment