When The Hundreds and Never Made threw a warehouse hardcore show in Long Beach to celebrate the release of their collaboration, I honestly didn’t know what I was in for. Upon entry, before the crowds billowed in, the space felt like an art gallery inside a parking garage. The concrete walls were covered in a wide variety of murals, every kind of style. Incredible art installations were dispersed around every corner of the building. Chaos and creativity merged to form a living, breathing, totally unique thing. Individuality would be a reoccurring theme.
People were excited about a free party, and they were surely excited for free beer and the chance to cop exclusive The Hundreds X Never Made pieces without having to pay for shipping, but most of the people were there for a specific purpose. They wanted to fucking wild out and scream and swing their arms like medieval maces and also scream. They wanted to let loose and be them for a while.
After a Q&A with Bobby Hundreds and Never Made’s Francisco Reyes, Jr., the mood shifted. People went from taking notes to stretching their arms and hamstrings like a UFC match was about to break loose. There was a storm brewing in the room as the headlining set neared.
There was a buzz around the band that was booked to play the party in the days leading up to the event. Everyone I heard talking about the show was like, “oh shit, Fury’s playing?” Their reputation is stellar around these parts, and likely everywhere else, too.
The band has carved out their own niche, tucked gently between the generations of LA Hardcore, where they can embrace both eras, smashing shit with fans of the golden-era and the new wave alike.
Orange County, California-bred hardcore band Fury is both a blast from the past and a refreshing new take on the genre. Quickly rising the ranks with hardcore fans young and old, the band is growing both musically and in their reach just five years after their formation.
Aside from tearing down our Long Beach event, Fury was gearing up to release Failed Entertainment, their new album released through Run For Cover Records. The band worked with former Sub Pop engineer Jack Endino and Andrew Savage of Parquet Courts on the new record, which was released earlier this month to fans eagerly awaiting the first Fury full-length since 2016’s Paramount.
We caught up with the whole band before their performance to chat about the new album and Fury’s place within the hardcore community.
DUKE LONDON: Tell me about Fury. Where are you guys from and how long have you been playing together?
MADISON WOODWARD: The band’s been together about five years now, and we originated in Orange County, although now we’re kind of spread out over all of Southern California. Danny lives right here in Long Beach, though.
DANNY SAMAYOA: Yeah, I live a few minutes down the road. Quick commute, it’s sick.
ALFREDO GUTIERREZ: I’m in Chino Hills so I’m pretty far out from here. I’m like an hour-and-a-half away with traffic, but it’s cool.
JEREMY STITH: I live in Fullerton.
ALEX SAMAYOA: I live in Fullerton as well.
After talking with some hardcore fans here tonight, they said there are clearly defined generations of LA hardcore and you guys occupy the space between, embraced by bands and fans of both generations.
MADISON: We are huge fans of the past, especially when it comes to Orange County hardcore. That’s kind of what we modeled our band after. But we are a modern band, so we constantly play with local bands and touring acts, and have been for the last five years. For a person who loves early hardcore, like Gorilla Biscuits, or someone who’s a fan of the New York hardcore scene, they hear something familiar in our music. And for younger fans, they can relate with (relatively) young guys playing hardcore.
JEREMY: We scratch that itch for the earlier sound without being a nostalgia act.
ALFREDO: We have elements of both, new and old. We’re not just worshipping the old days, but we don’t ignore the past, either.
What are some of those stylistic differences between hardcore music from different generations?
JEREMY: The technology for recording and politics. Hardcore was a new thing and then it was an old thing, so it kind of just goes in cycles.
Is hardcore having a resurgence right now?
MADISON: I think hardcore is in an interesting place right now. There are a lot of people making music in genres outside of hardcore that identify as hardcore just because that’s what they grew up listening to. So, there are rappers who consider themselves hardcore even though they’re just referring to stage-diving and mosh pits at a live show. Right now, there is so much experimentation happening in hardcore, probably more than ever.
Is part of this cross-pollination of genres due to easy access to all of the music online and artists drawing influence from a lot of places they might not have found before?
MADISON: One hundred percent, and even with us, I wouldn’t say we’re only influenced by hardcore music whatsoever. A far as art, guitar-based music and outside of guitar-based music, there are a ton of influences on our band and that’s definitely because music is so readily available.
ALFREDO: Whatever you want to listen to, it’s there.
I know you guys have the Sound and Fury Festival, but what other kinds of festivals do you play and is hardcore being accepted into the party with other genres at all-encompassing events?
ALFREDO: Turnstile played Coachella.
MADISON: Some of our peers are playing the biggest festivals in the world, playing with Ozzy and Korn and some of the biggest bands in the world. As far as aggressive music, I don’t know how much more mainstream than that you can get. Doors are opening for sure.
Five years after starting Fury, has it gotten bigger than you guys ever expected?
EVERYONE: Yeah, definitely.
MADISON: We recorded our first demo in my bedroom. None of us really expected our band to get to this level, let alone any of the other bands we were playing with early on.
ALEX: We’re not a big band by any means [laughs].
MADISON: But we’re bigger than playing in my bedroom.
Everyone we told about this event was like “Oh shit, Fury’s playing?”
MADISON: That’s really cool.
JEREMY: We don’t have social media, we’re definitely not trying to get a “career” out of this, but I think we have a core group of people that really care about it.
In 2019, as a band, how do you grow and gain traction without social media?
DANNY: You just go.
MADISON: You be authentic. People are going to see that. They’re either going to be into it or they’re not. We have a hard enough time managing our own individual social media that I can’t imagine five of us having to govern one sole Instagram.
ALEX: It’s just cheesy. No offense to any of my friends in bands who do have one though [laughs].
ALFREDO: When I was a young music fan, you found your favorite bands through listening to their music, not on social media.
What’s next for Fury?
ALFREDO: Who knows...
JEREMY: We did the hard part, making our new record.
MADISON: Our new record on Run For Cover is coming out very soon. [Editor’s note: It’s out now.] It’s called Failed Entertainment, and it’ll be on all streaming platforms. We’ll have it available on vinyl and cassettes, too.
JEREMY: El Guapo will have it on Youtube, he’s always on top of his shit.
MADISON: Besides the new record, we’re doing a full US tour in June. Our record release show will be in Orange County on June 30th at The Observatory. After that, Europe and some other international stuff.
Photos Courtesy of Ben Shmikler
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