In this virtual age, you are yet another one of those valued friends that I have never actually met, what's your story Freddy, where do you come from?
Well, my story goes like this: Born in Peru, moved to NYC when I was 8 years old. Grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens. I believe we are all the sum total of how our parents & surroundings mold us growing up, so I feel lucky to have had an extremely diverse upbringing that's influenced a good chunk of the choices I've made in life. I also value our virtual friendship. I remember reading a quote somewhere that it's really hard for men to make other friends of the same gender once we hit our 30's & 40's. Glad to see that's not the case here, hope to drink a couple of cold ones in person one day!
You are a man who wears many hats, how do you define yourself?
I am an Acupuncturist by training, a HC/Punk music aficionado by choice, a Peruvian/American by identity & an NYC "lifer". I've lived here for 35-plus years, so I think I get to call myself that. As far as personal politics, religion & what have you; it's a moot point, I've always been non-denominational in regards to those issues.
As a fellow music lover spanning many genres in several decades, I'm curious about what was your first exposure to music?
My earliest musical exposure that I can recall is of the melodramatic Spanish pop music best exemplified by Julio Iglesias/Camilo Sesto & others of their ilk. My cousins used to play them to death back in Peru during the mid-1970's, so I've always had a soft spot for them. I also still dig old Peruvian waltzes that my mom used to play when I was child, to this day; I'll be transported back in time whenever I hear those sounds.
Hardcore punk, metal or hip hop, can you live with just one?
Don't think so! I will say that I still find some current bands in the HC/Punk/Metal spectrum interesting. Sadly, I can't say the same for the current state of hip hop. I think the last good rap records were released in the mid to late 1990's. There's too much commercial gloss in hip hop today plus the effort to fit into an "Urban Contemporary" niche has really watered down the original feel of hip hop & this is coming from someone who was a b-boy in 1982, rocking Adidas track suits/shelltop sneakers & going to all the early rap concerts.
First memorable show? Or feel free to list several.
Ok my first shows-
In Hip-Hop: Affrikaa Bambatta & the Soul Sonic Force in 1982.
In Hardcore: Raw Power in 1985
In Metal: Slayer in 1986
All three impacted me deeply for varying reasons. Whether it was my age at the time, catching them at their prime or living in a vastly different city to the way NY is now; I really can't say. Unless some totally breathtaking new genre of music appears & blows me away. I am always gonna have these 3 reference points as the gold standard. Of course I've listened to every conceivable strain of music under the sun, but I'll be a bit dogmatic & hold on to these as the prime movers.
Did you have anyone you looked up to, or who sort of showed you the ropes in the scene(s)?
I got into HC my sophomore year in High School. I'd discovered punk through listening to a local college new wave station. There was a small group of skinheads & metal heads at my school. I became good friends with this skin named Leo from Brooklyn & started hanging out with him & the band he played in, called Occupied Territory. Those guys worshipped the Bad Brains, Scream & Minor Threat so I'm forever grateful for being introduced to those bands. It was also through them that I met people in the scene & started going to the HC matinees at CBGB's.
What are your top five bands, of all time, in any genre and why?
For HC: Black Flag, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Discharge & the Dead Kennedys.
For Metal: Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Slayer & Venom
For Hip Hop: Afrikkaa Bambataa, Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC, Eric B & Rakim, Public Enemy
One can arguably trace the lineage of any current bands or performers in those genres down to these trendsetting acts.
You teased me a while back with a tune from a band you played in (dying to get a full rip of that to post), what is your history of being on the stage, the observed as opposed to an observer?
Well, we never made it to the stage, just some practices & we recorded 1 song at Don Fury's studio. The story goes like this: I was compiling material from bands that would end up on the New Breed Tape Comp. I wanted to form a band to be included on it, never mind the fact that I can't & never will be able to play any instrument. Undaunted, I put a flyer looking for band members, got some cool responses & met people that could actually play. They came up with a song & I wrote the lyrics to & recorded it but the end result didn't blow me away so we shelved it. Listening to said track 25 years layer, it actually doesn't sound all that bad, certainly no worst than other stuff from that time. The guys in the band, we called ourselves Last Cause, are saying that we had a couple of other tunes that I can't for the life of me remember. When a good tape of them pops up, a link will come your way, just don't be too harsh on them!
Why release records and what's the story behind calling it Wardance Records?
I decided back in '89, since I can't actually play music, why don't I do the next best thing & help release it? The New Breed tape was the first production I was involved with. The explosion of bands centered around Abc No Rio in 1990 influenced me to document on vinyl some of the ones that I thought were amazing. I stopped in '94 & brought the label back to life in 2010. It now functions as a reissues/put out records by friends label. I've done these formats in my releases so far: vinyl, tape, cd, 8-track, t-shirts, poster & even a book. I hope to still do a VHS, DVD & flexi sometime in the near future. The label's name comes off a song title from one of my all time favorite lp's: Killing Joke's debut record.
Is there any secret unreleased material, that never came to be?
Not stuff that was supposed to come out on Wardance, but I always wanted to put out related material like the band the singer & drummer from Citizens Arrest had in '92, called Colossus, did an amazing 5-song demo or the Rorschach demo before their 1st Lp w/unreleased songs. I'll keep pestering them about some kind of future release involving that stuff.
Any future projects in the works?
Right not I'm trying to finish this video documentary on the New Breed Comp that me & my friend John Woods have been working on for the past 2 years. We've done about 14 interviews with band members/zine editors & record label dudes that were involved with the comp in 1988. The editing process has been slow but we finally got a good editor. The plan is to finish a 45-60 minute documentary & have a screening @John's Nitehawk cinema in Brooklyn with guest speakers/giveaways/music, make an event out of it. We also plan to put it on VHS/DVD & online for download.
The other release I'm working on is a reissue of a NYHC compilation from 1985, but that's still in the early stages.
How did you get involved with Qi Gong and acupuncture?
I studied Wing Chun Kung Fu when I was 15 & my teacher always had these chinese herbs lying around his workout space, to be used for any training related injuries. That sparked an early interest in Traditional Chinese Medicine. As I got older, I transitioned into doing Tai Chi & learned its related art of Qi Gong, which is like Chinese Yoga. These modalities influenced me to go to Acupuncture school. I've been an Acupuncturist for the past 10 years now, currently in a great practice that treats all kinds of medical conditions. A lot of people our age regret the life choices they made, for whatever reason(s), but I'm very blessed to have found my calling early on & made it a career that I love, couldn't think of doing anything else.
What new stuff spins on your turntable these days?
Some current faves:
- I really dig the new Villians Lp, they're a NY band that plays a nasty fusion called "Street Metal".
- Tony Tears from Italy play doomy melodramatic dirges like Paul Chain/Death SS, good stuff.
- Sick People from Australia just put out a cool 7" that sounds like an old band on Mystic Records crossed w/NYHC.
- The new Carcass Lp sounds massive, a great return to form.
- Chamanes from Peru. Put out a killer cd earlier in the year, of heavy garage rock w/ ultra gruff vocals.
- Kings Destroy are a local band of old friends playing Sabbath/early Soundgarden-like tunes, new lp rules.
- Zebras from Wisconsin, an awesome, hard to categorize band you turned me on to, thanks!
- Las Otras from Barcelona, Spain. Really snotty punk work with an unapologetic feminist bent.
Any additional words of wisdom?
Well, a maxim I've always tried to live by, especially when rushing about NYC or any other busy metropolis, is this: "Better to lose a minute of your life, than your life in a minute". So I always keep that in mind during my everyday commute, life is fleeting, no sense in speeding along the hour of one's (eventual) demise. On that cheery note, thank you so much for the interview buddy, looking forward to reading your new blog postings & musical recommendations!
Was searching the web for pics of Freddy (there's some really cool mug shots of another Freddy Alva) and came across another interview of him (I could learn a lot from that interviewer. Check it out at, Some Will Never Know. If you're in the market for some good music, do yourself a favor and check out his Wardance Records, and if you're just down to do some listening check out their Soundcloud.
And in case you were wondering about that one tune that Freddy recorded with his band Last Cause, really a badass tune, it's a shame they didn't go on to do more, you can listen to that... [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Z1mxEOtH4&w=560&h=315]
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