It’s something in between. I guess it’s like Oi! if Oi! drank malt liquor and ripped butts while listening to Slapshot.

 

What inspired you to form Poor Impulse Control?

I came up with the band name and drew a picture of a toilet with laurel leaf on it that said „skinhead shit“. I showed it to Crobar and he was sold. He started writing the music for that tune right away.

 

 

Are there any bands that have had a major influence on you when you were starting out?

Hard to say. I was driving an 18-wheeler around the country, going to Oi and hardcore shows while listening to west coast bands like Ultra Sect, Slugger, and Claymore, not to mention Massachusetts’s greatest band of all time, COA, and outlaw country music. I’m kind of fucking weird. I know Crobar listens to a bunch of cool European bands I’ve never even heard of, and Harry listens to fucking Madball while going nuts at the gym. I don’t know what Mike listens to but I know it works, because he is the most righteous drummer I’ve ever worked with. When I met him a million years ago, he was in a gnarly fucking death metal band.

 

How do you come up with songs – music first, or lyrics?

Music first. In the past I would be driving around in my truck and Harry and Crobar would hang out and record rudimentary versions of the songs and send them to me. There I would be cruising through the southwest or sitting in a rest stop in Nebraska somewhere trying to come up with lyrics. Then eventually I would come home and show up to record the lyrics. Like Crobar says, „We never know what the fuck is gonna come out of his (my) mouth“.

 

What labels do you work with and what is your experience working with a label?

Audio Epidemic Records (USA) and Contra Records (Germany). Crobar runs Audio Epidemic, and working with Contra has been great! They seem to like what we’re doing, and they help get our stuff out there.

What inspires you most in writing lyrics – street realities, politics, everyday life?

A combination of literature, various intoxicants, and the faces of my friends.

 

Do you feel like your sound has evolved over the time the band has been around?

Not so much evolved. I prefer mutated. We haven’t been around all that long. I know the original idea was to have an Oi band, but I feel like none of us could manage to do anything but what we do. Most of what I write has been bouncing around in my head for a while. Crobar and Harry are made to write music together, it’s mind-blowing to me. Luckily, what we are putting out there seems to be relevant to a lot of people and we are pretty stoked on that.

 

How would you describe the Oi!/punk/hardcore scene in Massachusetts today?

It’s pretty fly!

 

Do you feel supported by the community around your scene? How is the scene changing around you?

We feel pretty supported when we play out. I see people singing along which is the only thing I’ve ever wanted out of a band. We once again have a venue where we live so we get put on shows with who we want to play with, instead of who we have to play with. It’s a major plus to be at a show that you don’t feel burdened to be at. New England is pretty cool.

 

Does Massachusetts have its own distinctive sound or approach to hardcore and Oi!?

If you’ve never been to a show in Massachusetts, you’re missing out. We have our own sound and our own energy — it can’t be matched.

 

What local bands have influenced you or held the scene together with you? Are there any important places that are essential to the scene in your area – bars, clubs, stores?

All the local bands. I wouldn’t be standing here if I only had hardcore and skinhead bands from other places. I like them, but they aren’t life-changing for me — not like the way Boston bands from my teenage years were, like The Trouble, The Showcase Showdown, Poor Excuse, etc. These days bands like COA, Bad Terms, Klaxon, Neighborhood Shit, Scumbari.

The important places are as follows: The Flashback in Hyannis (our hometown venue), The Middle East in Cambridge, the legendary Hardcore Stadium, and of course the Quarterdeck in beautiful Hyannis, Massachusetts. All Roads Lead to the Quarterdeck.

 

How important is DIY culture in your city and surroundings?

It’s incredibly important, at least to us. If it wasn’t for the DIY scene what would any of us have? The fucking radio? Fuck that! I need shit to be weird. Nothing mainstream or normalized has ever or will ever be interesting.

Is the skinhead scene in the US really catching on, or is it more of a collection of old acquaintances? More young, more old?

I’d like to think it’s catching on. I see plenty of new faces, I miss some old ones. It will always fluctuate. People change, they go away, but seeing younger faces is always good. This music and these places have survived and evolved for decades. You either roll along or you lay down and die alone — the world won’t stop for you. I’m always happy to see everyone I know when I roll up anywhere.

 

How do you perceive the difference between the American and European hardcore/Oi! scenes?

I don’t know enough about it. Come back at me with that question once we’ve spent time touring Europe. I’ve only been to England for Rebellion once, and I was too busy being fat and sweaty from the heat wave that year, and too angry with the hate crime they call pizza to really pay attention. Karaoke at that one bar was a blast though.

 

What place do you think British Oi! has in 2025? Is it nostalgia or still a living inspiration?

Mostly nostalgia, and it’s always a good jumping-off place for people who are new — except for those bands who show up here. God, I miss Mickey Fitz.

 

Do you follow what is happening in the global hardcore/Oi! scene, or do you only focus on the US?

I follow what I hear, not really where it comes from. If it’s good, it’s good. After years of solo truck driving where most of my social interaction was through social media, I’m pretty used to finding things through the good taste of my friends IRL and lesser-known social media friends.

 

Do you think that the music subculture in Europe is more connected to political positions than in the US?

I don’t know much about it, as an American. I know that most of the bands here I like (and myself) have political leanings, even if it doesn’t come out in lyrical content. I don’t go for it much in our music. I feel like I want our band to be more vague and fun. Just try to enjoy yourself instead of going for the whole „upsetting everyone at Thanksgiving“ vibe. Obviously, Nazis aren’t welcome — that’s a disease that you have to stomp out before it spreads.

 

Where do you see the Oi! and hardcore scenes – in a return to their roots, or in openness to new influences?

I see it being fucking great lately. Between the return of classic bands and new awesome bands like Haywire stoking the fires, there’s shit going on all over and it’s looking up. Never just write off new music because it’s different — it’s not about you, it’s about the whole scene. You have to adapt, otherwise once again you die alone.

What does being part of the punk/hardcore/Oi! subculture mean to you today? And how do you maintain your identity without unnecessary nostalgia?

Being a part of this scene is family, it’s everything. The whole American dream is dead, so now I have music to be my own sort of religion. Even if you don’t know someone, real recognizes real and you know you’re safe in a room full of these people — unless you’re a fucking cunt, in which case you’ll be educated by having to pick your teeth up off the ground.

 

Do you think the scene still has a real ethos, or is it more about style these days?

Ooh, look at you using a word I had to look up.

I believe there is ethos. This scene means so much to so many people. Some people are new, some have been here, we pass down our morals and knowledge, as well as our style. As the cycle continues we stand on our values to hold us above the rest — and hey, what’s wrong with looking good at the same time?

 

Do you believe that subculture can still be a counterweight to the mainstream today?

I don’t know, I’m glad it’s here and I’m glad it’s more accessible through apps and shit. I remember when I had to find music in chain record stores, sitting there judging CDs and records by their cover art. They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but when I saw Blood for Blood putting Taxi Driver on the front of some EP, I knew it was something I had to hear. Fuck the mainstream — that’s just the system trying to get in any way it can.

How do you envision the future of the scene – what should it look like to survive?

Just keep it fucking street, keep it legitimate, don’t be a nerd, never back down. That being said, I just hope there is never a hologram of Choke singing about secrets — but maybe I would watch a hologram of McCarthy pissing in his own mouth, lol.

 

The final word is up to you. Is there anything you want to say that I didn’t ask? Your turn.

Remember when you first put on a pair of boots and braces? Your two or three other skin friends cheering — your first crew, if you will. You were young and finally belonged. Then you went to shows and met others like you. You learned from each other. The rest of the kids looked at you like you’re crazy and the adults all thought you were white supremacists. But you didn’t owe anyone an explanation — or anything else — because you had the whole world in your hands?

Well, remember that feeling, and remember that we all have a version of that like a flame burning in our chests. Don’t step on it for anyone else. This is all important, it all matters, and just because no one will remember when we are gone doesn’t mean we give up.

Pick up your friends when they fall down, keep not taking shit, keep fighting, keep doing what makes you true, keep standing tall!

Discography:
Where Angels Fear To Thread LP (Audio Epidemic Records, Contra Records, 2024)
Tourist Trap EP (Audio Epidemic Records, Contra Records, 2024)

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/poorimpulsecontrol_oi
BANDCAMP: https://poorimpulsecontrol.bandcamp.com/album/tourist-trap
SPOTIFY: https://1url.cz/3JaDG