Read part of Dashboard Confessional's foreword for new Sick Of It All book
A new autobiography from Lou and Pete Koller, The Blood and the Sweat: The Story of Sick of It All’s Koller Brothers, comes out Tuesday (8/4). Here’s the synopsis:
For Flushing, Queens natives Lou and Pete Koller, hardcore has become a lifestyle as well as an unlikely career. From the moment these siblings began applying their abilities to punk’s angrier, grimier sub-genre, they quickly became fifty percent of one of the most intense and compelling quartets to ever claim the movement—the legendary New York hardcore band, Sick of it All. Contrary to popular belief, Lou and Pete are proof positive that you don’t need to have lived a street life, or come from a fractured, chaotic home in order to produce world-class hardcore. If Agnostic Front are the godfathers of New York hardcore, then vocalist Lou and guitarist Pete are its grand masters.
The Blood and the Sweat is the no-holds-barred autobiography of two brothers who have never wavered, as well as an unrelenting depiction of the American dream, and the drive and determination required to live it—regardless of whatever obstacles appear before you. Featuring commentary from family, friends, bandmates past and present, and their peers, including Gary Holt (Exodus, Slayer), Kurt Brecht (D.R.I.), Barney Greenway (Napalm Death), and more…
Dashboard Confessional frontman Chris Carrabba wrote the foreword, about his own teenage years loving heavy bands, what happened the time when his band was supposed to open for SOIA, and more. Here’s an excerpt, via Revolver:
There is a way Lou and Pete carry themselves. It’s with a genuine kindness and an inviting manner most wouldn’t expect. That scene in New York has this incorrect reputation whereby people are unapproachable: tough, mean, too cool, whatever. That’s not real. What’s real is that they deserve respect for being pioneers, and building a scene that would spread across the nation and the world. That scene was and is inclusive. In fact, what people like me and you really learned from that scene is that you must connect with EVERYBODY to make it work. Then there’s the ethos and the dedication of DIY that permeates it. Sick of It All took that ethos and spread it through hard touring and incredible, timeless music.
Read the rest here.
Pete and Lou speak to Saint Vitus Bar on their Instagram at 8 PM ET on Thursday (8/6).
Meanwhile, SOIA made a Zoom-style group quarantine video for “Bull’s Anthem,” featuring members of Hot Water Music and Rise Against. Lou was also part of a quarantine cover of Black Flag’s “Rise Above.”
Speaking of Dashboard Confessional, Chris Carrabba has been recovering from a motorcycle accident since June, and happily he is making progress. He shared a picture without slings last week:
