Interview by Mike Andrick w/ Ian Larrabee (vocals).

First off, how does it feel to be a part of the Victory family and how did it come about? We feel very fortunate to have been given the chance to work with such a great label. Great people, even better bands and a work ethic akin to our own. So far everything has been great and they are really behind our record. It came about in the fall of '98. They had heard of us, asked around and contacted us. They did their research and so did we, and we talked and we hooked it all up. It was quick and painless and a great move for us. Hopefully, it will turn out to be a good move for them too. What personally got you into hardcore and the scene? I don't know, I was just always into music and bands from an early age. My mother always complains that the only thing I ever spend my money on is tapes or CDs, and here at 27 years old, its still true. So when I was buying tapes and records everyday when I was 16, I went to my first group of hardcore shows. I was going to shows and all that but I wasn't a part of any scene. I just went, stood in the back because I was terrified. Haha. Slapshot, Wrecking Crew, Cro Mags, Killing Time, Leeway, AF between 1987 and1990, those shows were wild. Anyway, I went away to college and still stayed into things. It wasn't until after college that I got involved in the scene aspect of things. It just worked out because I found some wonderful friends for life, where we had lots in common, a lot of fun, good bands to see and be in and now we have tons of stories to tell. As for why, I don't know. It just resonated with me on a personal and emotional level. Its probably why I am still doing it too. Any previous involvement with other bands? I sang in another Boston band that never really amounted to much outside of the immediate area. In fact, all of us were in local bands that got the fires burning inside us but never really did too much. How would you sum up the scene in Boston? The best in the world. Seriously, huge shows, tons of sincere kids, and the best bands. Right now, we're having some trouble with shows because when shows do happen here, so many kids come out to them that the halls always end up canceling them. We're victimized, as a scene, by our own popularity. Boston's history of violent shows keeps us away from the clubs, but slowly but surely they are coming back. They know there is a demand and a buck to be made, so the clubs will come back. As for bands, I am sure in your list of favorite hardcore bands there is as least one from Boston. August brings the Reach The Sky, All Out War, Buried Alive tour, what do you look forward to with touring with those two bands? Well for one, we are going to play places I have only dreamed of playing, like California. But mostly, it gives us a chance to travel and be with some of our favorite bands and favorite people in the whole world, Buried Alive and All Out War. The whole thing is going to be great and I seriously can not wait. Who are some of your favorite bands to play shows with and if you could tour with any band (past or present), who would it be? Outside of Buried Alive and All Out War, we love playing with Ensign, Blood for Blood, Shutdown, Floorpunch, Madball, In My Eyes, Ten Yard Fight, Right Brigade, Fastbreak, Another Victim, Converge and Bane. A perfect tour for us would be with Madball, H2O and Pennywise. That would be fucking awesome. If it doesn't happen, we're fine with Buried Alive and whoever we can convince to come with us. What are the motivations behind your lyrics? My own life. Seriously, the songs are just stories, etc from real experiences and emotions. That’s it. I don't have an agenda or anything like that, just singing about things that matter to me. I try to write the songs so that they resonate with the listener too, so if you feel the song rings true to your life, you can grab hold of it too. If I were to go back to when you were 13 years old and look through your music collection, what would I find? 1985? Shit, 1986 was the best year for metal, but lets see, in '85? Fuck. OK, I know I owned Anthrax "Fistful of Metal", Metallica's "Ride the Lightening" ( I think that came out in '84), lots of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, Slayer's Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits. God, I don't know. There would have been some GangGreen because they were huge in Boston then and they had these t-shirts and skateboards with a logo that looked like a Budweiser can. Lots of metal and some hardcore. Glam metal too, I would imagine. See everything changed for me in 1986. Why? That's when Slayer's Reign In Blood was released. Everything was different after that. Oh, I had all of Kiss' records and all of the Rolling Stones, my first favorite band. Any bands that you think we will all be hearing about soon?? Right Brigade, Fear Tomorrow, and Piecemeal. Right Brigade are an awesome, awesome hardcore band not unlike the Cro Mags. They have a demo out now and an EP coming out someday. Contact them at kidxhard@aol.com or Right Brigade, 8 Carmel #2, Boston MA 02120. Fear Tomorrow is another awesome band onEast Coast Empire. They are bringing it hard like early Integrity. Good shit. Lastly, Piecemeal is a brutal technical metal band, with some hardcore thrown in there. They are powerful, with intelligent lyrics and none of the nonsense grandstanding a lot of these "clever" metal bands try to pull off. They are on East Coast Empire too. www.ecer.com Anything you would like everyone to know about Reach The Sky?? That we are a hardcore band, nothing more, nothing less. We are not an "emo" band. Anyone who thinks that, has no idea about what they are trying to say. Anyway, we can be contacted at reachthsky@aol.com or Reach the Sky, PO Box 22, Boston MA 02117. www.xmulletx.com/reachthesky