Ruiner exploded into the Baltimore hardcore scene in late 2004, and is still arguably the hottest local act in the genre. Their first release on a label was What Could Possibly Go Right…  in 2005. In 2007, they released their second full-length album, Prepare To Be Let Down. I Heard These Dudes Are Assholes is a collection released in the Summer ’08 season, featuring some original demos, a split album that they did with Portuguese band, Day of the Dead, and including a re-release of the What Could Possibly Go Right… EP. They have played shows at venues throughout the US, as well as across Europe and Japan. Their most recent area performance, an October 20^th gig at Sonar, was one in a countless number of dates that the band has played within the past year. Co-headlining with two other hardcore heavyweights, Have Heart and Blacklisted, the show was an intimate gathering—in the way that only a room packed full of diehard friends and dieharder fans can be. There was no separation between the stage and the crowd. The room was one collective voice, screaming into the mic.

Unless you’ve taken in the Ruiner experience firsthand, there is no explaining the raw power and energy that is created. With Joey Edwards on drums, Stephen Smeal on bass, and Dustin Thornton and Danny Porter on guitars, the instrumentals alone give rise to the crowd. When you add frontman Rob Sullivan’s impressive voice and their lyrics from a consciousness to which everyone can relate, the show is made.

To kill time as they headed into the Australian segment of their tour, Rob sat down and answered a few questions regarding recent work, the touring schedule, and other random insights on life in general. As he opens his mind to us, we are painted the picture of an amazing, down-to-earth guy, and given a little insight into the black magic behind some of hardcore’s driving forces. From what I heard, these dudes aren’t assholes.

Since the release of Prepare to Be Let Down, have you been in the studio recording and working on new material? If so, can you tell us a little bit about it?

We have not been in the studio recording anything since we finished Prepare.  However we are working on new material, slowly, but we are working on it.  We have been trying to write in between each tour and it’s been a slow moving process but we are moving forward. I don't want to say it’s a drastic change but it does have a different vibe so far.  Granted we have a hand full of songs so it’s hard to say.  Hopefully by the spring of 2009 we will be recording another LP. 

Ruiner kind-of blew up from the very beginning—what do you think contributed to the explosion?

I can only really say we had a strong following locally at first.  We still had to tour all over the country to get anyone else to notice..  In the Baltimore MD area I would contribute it to we had all been in bands for years and that always makes it easier to get the word out.  We had a demo for our first show so it wasn’t like anyone had to wait to hear something from us.  I contribute a lot of what we have accomplished to the support we get back home.  It really helps to motivate us to come from such a strong DIY scene filled of amazing bands and people.

What is the hardest thing about being in a touring band?

Money… Just being able to balance a steady job and remain on tour as much as possible.  We all have been pretty lucky with jobs as long as we have been doing this.  You kind of have to trade getting raises and promotions for just being allowed to have a job when you get home usually.  Also taking up side work at a bar or restaurant always helps.

What is your favorite thing about being in a touring band?

 Probably the same thing it is for everyone who is in a touring band.  You get to see the world and get away from the total monotony of life.    I am sure for a larger band the money, drugs and sleeping with underage girls is also a plus.  However we don’t make any money, most of us don’t do any hard drugs and we aren’t exactly attractive so seeing the world is good enough for us.

“I have it all/ I never needed more than a bag full of clothes and a fucked up van/ Just give me 20 minutes to sweat out the feeling/ Give me 20 minutes to run my self dead/ This is my outlet/ This is my mid life crisis/ Though it started at 16/ I don’t plan on seeing 30” –The Lives We Fear

How do you feel that Ruiner has grown as a band musically and lyrically in the past 4 years?

 Musically I think the next record will show more of a maturity then Prepare To Be Let Down.  I think that record was much safer than and not as risky as our first EP.  Not to say the EP was anything ground breaking but I think it felt looser at times and more free of constraints.  I think what we are working on right now is going to be a more self fulfilling record for us personally. 

Lyrically I have always kept it pretty personal.  Our first EP (What Could Possibly Go Right...) I think I went for a lot of one liners and memorable moments where as with the LP I really wanted to just state exactly what I was thinking.  For the LP I am trying really hard to find a middle ground but still show that I have aged.  I started writing some of the songs on our first EP around 20.  By the time our next LP comes out I will either be or will almost be 26.  I have gone through a lot in nearly 6 years and I want to show that.  I may not be as angry or heart broken as that kid but I still have a lot on my mind. 

Describe your personal vision of Ruiner—what do you feel you give to listeners that other bands don’t?

 Questions like this are kind of difficult to answer with out sounding like a total arrogant prick most of the time. I will most likely sound the same.  A lot of bands now a days worry entirely too much about what other people think (bands or kids).  We left that at the door a long time ago.  If we are the odd band out or the weirdo band we don't really give a shit. 

How is the hardcore “scene” different from the “scenes” of other musical genres?

I don't really view hardcore that different from other "scenes".  Punk, Hardcore, Indie, or whatever subculture you want to say, this is supposed to be the anti-norm.  Sadly it’s all becoming a mainstream thing and is losing the individuality that brings most people here.  Too many bands are using booking agents and managers.  It’s like they want to function like the huge bands with the respect of being “underground”.  I guess I half answered your question.

How does the Baltimore/DC hardcore scenes differ from hardcore based out of other locations (i.e. the Boston HC scene)?

Baltimore never ceases to amaze me on how open minded it can be.  So many different scenes have lines drawn between all the different types of hardcore and punk.  Baltimore is just a large group of nerdy kids who love the music regardless.  I love this city.

What—if any—is your favorite locally grown band to listen to? What makes them different, and why would you recommend hearing them?

When I was younger there was this band from the College Park MD area called The Falsies.  They were very melodic but fiercely aggressive and I loved every song.  I remember they did this full US tour that was like 51 shows in 49 days or something crazy like that. I didn't know these guys personally but they definitely impacted my taste for what I thought was great at the time.

Do you have a favorite band to tour with?

We have a couple bands we have been friends with for a while and really enjoy touring with.  Locally Pulling Teeth have always been a good time to be out with.  We all get a long but hate each other just enough to always have a really good time.  Killing the Dream we have toured with a ton and it is always an interesting experience to say the least.  We just did a tour with Deep Sleep from Baltimore as well.  All those dudes have been our friends for a long time and it was awesome getting to go out with them.  Braindead from Philadelphia are probably my favorite band to tour with.  We fuck with each other so much and every day is more enjoyable than the day before.

Who is on your play list right now, as far as other bands are concerned? Who has inspired you, and who do you see as up-and-coming new talent?

I have been listening to a lot of Polar Bear Club.  They are an incredible melodic punk band from Syracuse.  I'd say that band has inspired me. The band Braindead from Philadelphia are starting to tour a lot and I hope kids catch on because they are an incredible band more people need to know about.  Surroundings from Baltimore are a band I think can do a lot if they just get out more.  I am pretty excited for them.

Do you feel that mainstream music culture is headed in a specific direction? How would you like that to change, if at all?

I really don't care what mainstream culture does either way.  I listen to mix 106.5 all day at work.  I view it for what it is- music for the masses.  What I do is not and I am ok with that.

“I wanna hear it/ those precious fucking words/ those compelling beautiful songs that grab a hold and never let go/ I need to know/ what makes you fucking tick/ if it’s you or days lived by those who are already fucking dead/ Destroy yourself for me please/ let me know there’s something that lives beyond your record collection” –Sincerely

The digital revolution—free music downloading, and iTunes; the MySpace Artists’ digital library—for or against?

If you can spread your music around that’s awesome.  I still think bands should get paid for what they create so I am not exactly ok with the pirating of music but its going to happen either way.  It all has its place.  It’s just up to the bands to create a new means to control the movement of their music..

What are your personal thoughts on the election?

I think the election of Barack Obama into office is an incredible day for America.  I don't want to harp on the racial issues of it but it can't be ignored no matter how bored people are of hearing it.  A black president in a country that is so racially heated from coast to coast and in every major city is unprecedented.  It shows a state of maturity that I hope is the start of something great.  In our city of Baltimore 350 people registered to vote, that’s more than half the population of our city.  That is incredible.

Now I am an Obama supporter and though my views may be more towards an independent, in our country voting anything other than the top 2 is nearly useless in a major election such as this.  I don't however think Obama will be able to fulfill everything he has said.  Our country is in a terrible place at the moment and he will probably spend half his term trying to clean up that mess, which will probably lead him to not being reelected.  The positive of being in office is we have an entire world that for 8 years has looked at us worse than ever before.  For the first time in nearly a decade countries that had turned their backs on us because of an unjust war and terrible foreign policies are showing their support to America again. 

 I think this is the start of something great.

If you were president for a day and could enact any law, what would it be?

Gay marriage and a woman’s right to choose.  Both of these things would be no brainier for me.  The idea that someone of the same sex can not marry someone they love and receive the same benefits a hetero couple gets is mind blowing to me.  I also don't think it is anyone’s business but the bearer of a child what she does with her body.  However leading into the second trimester you are starting into something very debatable.  So I understand why the argument is so strong for this topic.  Both of these things however just show the ignorant strangle hold religion plays on a system that is suppose to be separate from such ideas.

When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A cop.  My father was a cop and I wanted to be just like him. 

What about when you were fifteen?

I probably just wanted to be in a band.  That was when I started my first bands so I think I probably wanted to make that my life.

Are you an active proponent of any social issues, and have used your music towards these causes at all?

I think religion plays far too important a part in the lives of many people.  People need to let go of the crutches in this world that inhibit them from just living their own lives. I have written songs about this and it is one of the few things I will talk about from stage.

“It takes guts to stand against modern day society/ and we will never fall in the line with the fucking sheep/ who herd towards a relic forged in deceit/ placed in pride as a reminder of a finger that never stops shaking at you/ when in their eyes you have committed a wrong against the cloth/ this is my rebuttal/ this is my counter offer/ I will not fear you/ no fucking more” –Lock Jaw

What are you reading right now, if anything? Do you have a favorite book?

My girlfriend has been pushing me to read more then comic books and things on the internet.  Currently I am reading Rules for Radicals (published in 1971, written by Saul Alinsky, explanation really of what it takes to be a young radical) and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (a collection of short stories).

“On a typical Monday night, you can most likely find me at band practice.”

Is there anywhere that you have always wanted to go but never gotten the opportunity? What about that place intrigues you so much?

Antarctica.  I feel like this is one place that we won’t be touring anytime soon.  I really enjoy cold weather and would like to see what that feels like there.

What would your last meal consist of?

Meatloaf, fried chicken fingers, whole kernel corn, mixed steamed veggies, crab cakes, cheesecake and a coke.

Any last words?

Kangaroo steak tastes just like normal steak.  However the hotdog form does not...

“6 months from the day/ I wrote any of these songs/ they may mean as much as the changing of the tides/ This reoccurring trend of hello and goodbye/ leads me to believe that I know I've been here with you before” –Long Time Coming

Tags: Blacklisted, Hardcore, Have Heart, I heard these dudes are assholes, Jessica Snow, Prepare To Be Let Down, Rob Sullivan, Ruiner, sonar, What Could Possibly Go Right