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AGAINST ME
by Zac Hobbs
Photos by Sylvia Hagar
From the September 2008 issue of PRICK Magazine.
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What is there left to say about Against Me
that hasn’t been said a million times
over? Born in basements, coffee shops,
street corners (and even a laundromat here and
there), the boys in Against Me have certainly
come a long way from when Tom Gabel recorded
his first demo tapes a little over 10 years ago.
From countless Warped Tours, four full length
releases, and headlining tours that pound sound
into all corners of the club, Against Me is a perfect
example of what can happen to a small, DIY
punk band that is unquestionably persistent in
everything they do. Whether it is constantly writing
and recording new material or relentlessly
touring anywhere and everywhere, they have the
ambition of a recently graduated Harvard MBA,
but with the looks of southern punk prodigies.
Some of the old roughnecks that were hanging
out in the basements and bars in Gainesville may
not be too jovial about Against Me’s meteoric
success, but you have to hand it to Gabel and
company: they earned every last bit of it.
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And perhaps there is more to attribute to Against
Me’s success than just constant writing, recording and
touring. The ability to reinvent themselves with every
record showcases the bands talent at staying fresh in the
musical sphere while never getting too bogged down with
any particular genre. Their first LP, Reinventing Axl Rose is
slowly becoming an iconic example of what modern anarcho-
folk punk should sound like, regardless of the fact that
not one single record the band has released since sounds
anything like it. While their sounds and styles are changing,
one of the most important facets that make Against
Me a great band is the incomparable lyrics of Gabel. Every
song Gabel has ever written has literally screamed of sincere
honesty, as he brutally wears his heart on his sleeve
at every moment of every record. There is nothing the man
won’t sing about, so long as it is important to him.
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Just as how the boys in Against Me are no strangers to
the world of punk music, they are certainly not strangers
to the world of tattoos. The band is covered with ink that
ranges from shitty one line black ink tattoos that resemble
something given in the bathroom in a truck stop (every
member has a tattoo of a snowman that is a perfect example
of this) to beautifully crafted and thought out pieces
covering a wide variety of subject matter. James Bowman
(guitar/vocals) sports very traditional sailor-esque tattoos,
with ships and dice in vibrant colors, where as Andrew
Seward (bass/vocals) and Warren Oaks (drums) lean more
towards simplistic and bold black ink tattoos. As for Gabel,
the ink on his skin is very similar to the words he puts in
his songs, leaving everything there is to know drawn across
his skin, which is best described by the giant grenade sport
ing a banner reading “fuck it.”
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Once called the “Clash
of our generation,” Against
Me is an entity miles above
being just another dirty punk
rock band from Florida. While
it might be a little too early to
call them a modern day Clash,
at the core of everything,
Against Me is a progressive
band with something important
to say, which would never be heard if they were
still meandering around the slums of Florida. So what
if a couple of old, hard headed punks are pissed off
about sharing venues spaces with newer and bigger
audiences? We here at PRICK have learned that,
sometimes, you just have to say "fuck it."
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For more information, go to www.againstme.net.
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