On Friday, we brought you the first installment of our interview with Rob Lind (if you missed it, you can read it here). If you read it, you now know where Rob has been for the past 8 years, and what led him to take such a long hiatus in the first place.
Now, find out where his music is taking him, as he talks about the brand new split between Ramallah and Sinners & Saints, Back from the Land of Nod, which was released this past month on State Line Records. Read the full interview below.
Sinners & Saints will be playing their first club show in 11 years on Friday, May 29th, in Cambridge, MA. You can find more info on that here.
Dying Scene (Gina Skidz): So, you’ve got two new albums coming out within the next month or so. Is the world going to be over-saturated with Rob Lind, or what?! Was there a method behind releasing the S&S and Ramallah albums so close together?
Rob Lind: Haha it’s even closer than that: the two EP’s are being released as one piece of vinyl (a split 12” with the Ramallah “Back From The Land Of Nod” EP on one side and the Sinners & Saints “When We Were Young” EP on the other). It’ll already be available by the time anyone reads this. The original idea was to release all 3 of the EPs (Sinners & Saints, Ramallah, and Blood For Blood), which were all recorded right around the same time, as part of a series of 7 inches which would’ve ended in the release of a full-length CD with all 3 bands’ EPs on it, like a compilation. The book would have come out at the same time as the full length. But some of those prior contractual obligations and legal entanglements I mentioned [in Part 1 of this interview] prevented this.
I feel like the reason for wanting to release everything as a series/ together SHOULD be self-evident at this point. But I realize I’ve been away for a long fucking time so I will explain once and for all. With the exception of Sinners And Saints (in which my brother writes his own songs), none of my “bands” are or were “bands” as far as creative collaboration goes. I write all the music and lyrics by myself in complete isolation. And then I produce the shit in the studio. I don’t consult anyone else and I don’t do it for anyone else but me. The only reason a Ramallah song is a Ramallah song is because I decide to call it a fucking Ramallah song. The only reason a Blood For Blood song is a Blood For Blood song is because I decide to call it a fucking Blood For Blood song. This designation process takes place long after the songs are written and completed. Any sonic distinction among my different “bands,” any differences in musical style, they exist because I chose to impose them. The differences are not the result of some kind of band-specific “chemistry”. Any Ramallah song could just as easily be a BFB song and vice versa (and sometimes that is exactly the case right up to recording). The end recording would be exactly the same. Obviously with BFB there were two singers but that would be the only audible difference… and I could damn well sing all the shit in the studio by myself if needed. From Exile on I DID sing about 90% of the vocals in the studio (live was a different matter of course). If a song in question doesn’t fit with the “band” I choose to assign to it, again that’s because of the stylistic aesthetics I’ve chosen to define each. And when I say the music is done beforehand, I mean it is DONE… down to the fucking drum fill (in the very old days with BFB I used to actually sit behind the kit and show the drummer the parts I had in mind). Everything is worked out. Nothing is open to interpretation or improvisation. I suppose I was kind of a tyrant. But my attitude was always “If I need your input, I’ll ask for it”. And I rarely asked because I rarely needed it.
Only in Sinners & Saints is there some of the exchange of ideas you see on all those VH1 “Behind The Music” specials. And even then when I bring a song to the guys, it’s already complete. It’s just that I happen to respect my brother’s musical opinion so if he has a suggestion, I’ll consider it. The same goes for him: when he brings a song to us players, it is already done. But if I have an idea or a suggestion, Mark might implement it.
Was that always the case?
Creatively Blood For Blood WAS a band at the very, very beginning. But even as early as Spit My Last Breath it was already mostly what I described above. On Spit My Last Breath I was already finishing the music completely long before bringing the songs to the practice space (now that I think about it, I’d actually starting writing all the music ahead of time by the Hurt You demo). I learned REAL early on if that if the shit wasn’t completely worked out before I brought it to the players, whatever I had in mind would get all fucked up and I’d end up hating the song. By Spit My Last Breath, I had also begun writing chunks of the lyrics beforehand as well (usually the choruses, refrains and other anthemic parts, which would then serve as the theme or topic of the song). Revenge On Society was the final transition point. I’d already written lyrics to whole songs by that point (the song “Spit My Last Breath” for instance) and a few of the songs on Revenge were totally mine (“Wasted Youth Crew,” “All Fucked Up,” “Shut My Eyes Forever” and maybe one or two others). The reason I didn’t allow any input on these particular songs is because the subjects (i.e. what I was trying to say with these songs) were so fucking important to me at the time that I didn’t want anyone fucking it up. Up until then out of a sense of fairness or sportsmanship or maybe camaraderie, I would still leave parts of each song and even a whole song here and there for BFB’s other singer to write (other than the songs I mentioned above of course). But by the recording of Revenge I’d decided ANY lyrical collaboration was over. It had finally coalesced in my mind that not only did I not want or need help with the lyrics, but that any collaboration was actually fucking up what I wanted to say and do with music. There are a LOT of lyrics on that album other than mine for sure (some of the songs were written earlier and some were re-records of older songs) but that the was the last time.
How do you think that’s affected the perception of the bands?
Since the disaster of a couple of years (when those shows were suddenly cancelled and the whole circus went tits up), I’ve heard people say shit like “That music is tainted. After all the bullshit they talked, for one of them to pull something like that… they’re full of shit. I’m getting my ink covered up”. That kind of talk just breaks my heart. And it also surprises me because I thought the listeners knew better. When it comes to the integrity of the music and the honesty of the message and the impact it had on the people it reached, there was no fucking “they” involved. That shit was the story of MY life and no one else’s. Look… I’m not shitting on the contribution and commitment of the other people involved. When it comes to the players, we ALL put the same time in and made the same kind of sacrifices to bring the music to the people it reached. I would NEVER deny that or diminish it. The same goes for ALL my bands (notice I don’t use the sarcastic “quotation marks” around the word in this context). The same goes for all the lineups from over the years. Some of the guys I play/ played with are the closest, most important people in the world to me. There is a bond that comes from touring and playing music. The time and effort some of the guys have put into this thing (sometimes for VERY little in return) is fucking amazing to me. And as far as performing I literally couldn’t do it without them. But when it comes to the music itself and the message, when it comes to the honesty and sincerity and purity of these things, that shit sinks or swims by me alone. I’ve said it a thousand time but music and writing are the only forums in this imperfect life of suffering where I can be completely honest and say everything I want to say everyday of my life but otherwise can’t. I believe in these things like religion. And I can’t begin to describe the place of isolation, the place of darkness these things come from with me. It’s got nothing to do with anyone else. I’m laying this all out here because it’s just the truth and I am continually surprised by how many people who I thought knew better seem to misunderstand. This is the way it is and the way it was. Nothing more, nothing less.
What can we expect from the new Sinners & Saints material?
The new EP has one old song that we used to play live occasionally and which Mark and I both loved and wished we’d recorded for years. It’s the lead off track [“When We Were Young”] and it’s REAL catchy in a melancholy sort of way. The song Mark wrote for this EP is by far my favorite song he has ever written… but I can’t fucking listen to it. I guess he wrote back when I was all strung out and when he was expecting everyday to get a call that I’d died in a Dunkin’ Donuts bathroom. It is a beautiful song for sure but I can’t listen to it because it tears my fucking heart out. The 3rd song on the EP [“Up Through the Sky (We’re Going Home)”], I basically wrote in the studio just to see if I could do a song completely unprepared. I’ve written songs in the studio before but with this one, I really only had a couple of vague melodies in my head when we went in. I need to amuse myself. I hate to feel like I am retreading the same ground. It was originally gonna be an up-tempo pop song but at the last second I decided to change it to a sort of triplet-ish shuffle feel and only went up-tempo with it for the outro.
As far as a new full-length goes, I would definitely like to do one. I certainly have the material that’s for fucking sho’. Right now I am focusing on Ramallah and Mark is focusing on The Warning Shots so we’ll have to see how it all works out.
What’s it like working with your brother, Mark [of The Warning Shots and The Ducky Boys]? Do you guys work well together? Is there something special about being in a band with your brother?
The first year or two of Sinners & Saints was the most exciting and rewarding time I’ve ever had with music. I looked forward to everyone minute of it. Mark and I had discussed before hand exactly what we wanted to do with this new band we had in mind (the band that became Sinners & Saints)… and then we actually went and did it and it came out better than we both ever expected. Even as far as brothers go, Mark and I are very close. But we also compliment each very well in a band. And when we sit down together to just write music? Mark brings something out of my songwriting that no one else does. He’s one of like two or three people I can go to on the rare occasion I am uncertain about an idea and I know I will get the definitive answer I need from him. Creatively I am way more intense and demanding then my brother. When I have an idea, I want it done immediately. I can’t get the ideas out of my mouth fast enough. Even if I don’t show it, I get irritated if the other players don’t catch on instantly. I realize it’s not the players fault when they don’t catch right on. I hear the finished song in my head and they don’t. So I end up trying to describe 5 things at once and then I have a flares of rage when I can’t spit it all out fast enough or if the other players don’t get it right away. Mark on the other hand is really laid back creatively. He knows how to translate my hyper dialogue to the other guys and how to break it down into steps.
With his own stuff, he’s got very specific ideas of what he wants but he takes it much slower. He lets people play around with what he’s showing them. He’s often open to ideas and changes that I wouldn’t be. However I can tell immediately when he doesn’t like someone’s idea or suggestion and when he’s just being polite and humoring someone. In that case I’ll weigh in on his side and diplomatically explain to the person why it’s better Mark’s way. I’ve said repeatedly that Mark is one of the very few people whose musical judgement I trust enough to always at least consider any of his suggestions (my drummer Bob is another person who I will listen to). He’s also one of even fewer people who can tell me “I don’t think that works” and I will listen (I may not agree in the end but I will always listen).
Music attracts a lot of people with communication problems. Passive aggressive types I guess. In bands, there are a lot of people who try to make changes or meddle just because they’re feeling left out or they want to have an affect on everything. They try to alter shit just for the sake of altering it. It may take me a long time to learn to trust someone’s musical judgement but it takes me no time at all to I.D. this type of person. And once identified as such, they could tell me there’s dog shit on my face or there’s a tarantula on my shoulder or that the fucking building is on fire and I wouldn’t pay any attention to them. Mark rarely makes a suggestion unless he really hears something that can make the song better. So I’ve learned that if he has an idea it means it’s something to really consider. It just all clicks with Mark.
I’d describe The Sky is Falling as an album about dealing with the shit life hands you in the best way you can, which may or may not be good enough. It was sometimes pretty depressing in its raw hopelessness. Does the new music follow that same theme?
Funny you mention that… the new EP has an overarching theme of death, loss, and the relentless march of that merciless destroyer Time. Pretty cheery right? But as usual it wasn’t calculated, it just happened like that. Like I mentioned above, “When We Were Young” was written back in the day a little bit after The Sky Is Falling came out (we made some changes to it musically when we recorded it but the overall structure and lyrics are almost the same as they were when it was written). And Mark had written “Note To A Friend” back when I was still strung out. “Up Through The Sky,” which as I mentioned above was the least finished of the songs when we went in the studio, was partially influenced by some bad news. While working on the vocals in the studio, we received word that the original drummer of Sinners & Saints, Dustin Hengst (also the drummer for the bands Damone and Waltham), had passed away. The lyrics to Up Through The Sky, indeed the whole project, took on an even deeper meaning in light of Dustin’s passing and I altered the second verse to fit what I was feeling at the time and to commemorate him a bit.
Why such a long delay between The Sky is Falling and the new release?
A whole bunch of reasons, most of which I laid out already. We always wanted to do more music but after a year or two of doing Sinners & Saints pretty much full time, Mark and I both started getting wrapped up in our previous bands again and new projects. I of course went a little astray chemically around that time. Then I went out to Detroit for a couple of years to do Ramallah. And then I crashed and burned and went into seclusion with my dog Eddie. But now we’re back.
You lost drummer Dustin Hengst back in 2011. How hard was it to put this out without him? Do you do anything to keep his memory alive on this album?
As I mentioned above we were actually in the studio recording this EP when we got word he’d passed. Getting the news changed the entire vibe of the project. Some of the lyrics of “Up Through The Sky” are in reaction to the news of Dustin’s passing and the very last spoken words of the S&S half of the EP are a dedication to him, though a listener would not otherwise know that (now you know). We were wary of being overt in our memoriam to him because we didn’t want to seem exploitive. There is a trend in hardcore and punk to exploit the death of others as a mark of credibility and a selling point. That whole “yo, this one go’s out to *fill in name of deceased*… rest in peace motherfuckah” thing on every song… and then you find out later that the band in question barely knew the deceased. I’ve seen this trend taken to truly obscene levels in the past. We wanted to honor him in a respectful manner that was meaningful to us. The lyrics to the entire EP certainly take on a deeper meaning and gravity in the wake of his death. And his death was a fucking tragedy for sure. That’s all I’ll say about that. I miss him. Dustin was a genuinely good-hearted dude and he had an immeasurable impact on my songwriting. And he was MONSTER drummer. One of the best I’ve ever known, never mind played with.
Let’s switch gears to talk about Ramallah. From what I’ve read on the itnernet (so it’s gotta be true, right?), Ramallah was formed in response to what you saw going on in the world, to take the ugly and the brutal and shove it down people’s throats. Do you think that the world has changed?
I gotta be REAL careful what I say in print haha. I rarely did interviews so I could never predict which blurb or snappy quote was gonna get picked up as the defining description of one of my bands or motivation for the music. Like that quote you referenced in your question (the one about shoving the ugly and brutal in folk’s faces or some such). Did I mean it when I said it? Sure. But I was also shitfaced and shooting from the hip. I was bombed and probably trying to say something as turgid as possible. Is it accurate? Partly. But it doesn’t cover everything the band was even then, never mind now. Now I see it everywhere as the sole proschema for Ramallah’s existence. I just didn’t know it was gonna be carved in granite when I said it.
Rob Lind (front, left) performs with Ramallah.
Has your outlook on the world changed?
Regarding the world and my outlook on it, nothing has changed. Human nature is immutable. It will never change. All the horrible, bestial shit we do to each other and have done to each other since the beginning of recorded history (war, genocide, oppression and repression) will all continue. Now that we have at our disposal the ability to kill millions at a time, I don’t think we’ll last another 200 years as a species. Even if we don’t destroy ourselves with war, I just don’t see the whole deck of cards sustaining itself much longer. I suspect a lot of people feel the same way. It’s sad because there has been some real progress from time to time. And overall there has been a slow, creeping, incremental forward motion in respect to our collective values regarding things like the sanctity of life, liberty, and justice. Yeah, yeah, of course there are always places where none of this pretty stuff is evident and there are always forces working tirelessly against it wherever it is. And of course there is always some place where folks are lopping each others heads off with machetes and exterminating their enemies. But in spite of all this, there has been an overall progress regarding our collective ideas of right and wrong (even if it seems everyone everywhere does their best to side-step these notions at every turn… but that’s just good ol’ human nature at work). I believe this progress begins with art. If science is humanity’s dialogue with the universe, then art is humanity’s dialogue with itself. Through art, new ideas slowly enter the popular imagination. These ideas slowly take root and begin to slowly shape the social mechanisms and standards of behavior we attempt to impose upon ourselves. But it’s all so fragile. History has proven time and time again that it can be rolled back in an instant. There are evil men who at all times conspire to do this very thing. I may despair of the human condition and human nature, both on the macro level and a personal one (most of what I’ve seen of humanity as a whole sucks and most of the people I’ve personally met and known suck as well). And despite this fragile progress I referred to, I indeed despair of our future and survival as a species. But there have been a rare few men and women throughout history who shine like lights in the darkness via what they do, think, and say, via the ideas and works and expressions they’ve left behind. I’ve also had the incredible fortune to personally know a very few people that shine in the dark as well, not by virtue of their works or contribution to art or science, but simply through their inherent natures (just for the record this small handful of shining souls were mostly, though not entirely, women). Not for a second do I consider myself fit to be counted amongst the lowest and least of these people… but I think they and what they do are why I hold my almost religious belief in the value of human expression and communication (as long it’s honest and without pretense of course). They make this Hell World which the rest of us hungry ghosts are clawing and tearing our way through a bit more bearable.
At the Bridge9 event, you mentioned your fear that someone might take your lyrics seriously, in particular “Kill A Celebrity.” Has that fear influenced you lyrically, and have you softened your tone out of concern that someone might use those lyrics as justification to hurt someone else?
I never soften or mitigate anything I feel I need to say. And I’ve rarely paused to consider how anything I’m doing might be received by others. But… in the case of that ONE particular song, now that I’ve survived the darkness of those years and now that I’ve come to uneasy terms with most of the demons that used to drive me… yeah, I have some apprehensions about that tune. When I wrote that song I was suffering from savage depression. I was suicidal and I was so filled with poisonous hatred. It felt like there were fucking snakes writhing around behind my eyeballs. That was the place I was coming from and at the time I meant every word. But even beyond my toxic, venomous mindset, the writing of that song was part of a larger plan… or maybe aspiration is more like it. I won’t get into it here cuz it’s bad juju and I don’t want to tempt that bitch goddess Fate. Suffice it to say, I would prefer it if nobody goes out and acts on the lyrics to that song. My karma is screwed up enough as it is.
How do you come up with Ramallah songs? Are you following the news and using that?
Lyrically the new Ramallah songs (both on the new EP and those which have yet to be recorded) are largely of a personal nature (as opposed to the kind of social commentary which made up a good amount of the lyrics on the first two recordings). I’m basing this on the new material I’ve written up to the moment of doing this interview. Depending on my mood it could change in a heartbeat (and as a manic-depressive, historically my mood has been pretty fucking mercurial). And when I say that the lyrics to these new songs are personal, I mean they are fucking personal. When my brother Mark first listened to them he actually said “When I listen to a band or songwriter, I expect them to open up. I judge my favorite music based on the candor and intensity of the songwriter’s admissions. But dude. This shit actually made me kind of uncomfortable. I think you might have gone too far”. I could have kissed him on the forehead when he told me that. The new Ramallah shit is like the lyrical equivalent of showing a total stranger a genital wart in the middle of Shaw’s, I guess. This is not a new direction for Ramallah (though I admit the new material goes further than anything I’ve ever done before). Even on the first two records there were a good amount of songs and lyrics of an intensely personal nature (Oscar Cotton, If I Die Today, Act Of Faith, Beauty, Who Am I, Just Walk Away, The Horror And The Gag, etc).
The venomous social commentary on the first two Ramallah records was like the musical/ lyrical equivalent of a temper tantrum. Or maybe a cataclysmic allergic reaction. The allergen responsible for said lyrical sneeze was of course bullshit, hypocrisy, and lies. At the time I’d been traveling the country touring and it just seemed like everywhere I went, nobody I met could fucking believe what was going on. A lot of the young people at the shows and in the scene were being shipped off to war, and others were returning from war with horror stories. Even amongst the many who were proud to serve, none of them believed the reasons they were being told to go. The Bossman had hammered through the 2001 tax cuts to benefit his top 0.05% paymasters, which guaranteed deficit and financial crisis. More people than usual were losing their jobs or being forced to work shittier jobs with more hours for less pay. People that worked 60, 70 and 80 hours a week were losing their fucking homes. And there was Orwellian shit going on like the Patriot Act and that communications-act (the one which deregulated the old anti-trust laws and allowed huge swaths of the media to be bought up and owned by single entities). Such was the shit was affecting everyone I knew and cared for, the shit affecting everyone from my social strata, the shit that seemed to be on the minds of everyone I had access to. None of it was new of course. The passion play of politics is unchanging (though the balance can swing back and forth). The triumph of the rich over the poor, the elite over the masses, the top over the bottom, the powerful over the powerless… shit, that’s human fucking history and it never entirely ceases (though the intensity can vary and it seemed pretty intense at the time). What disturbed me most was there seemed to be this huge disparity between the priorities and values of those I mentioned versus those of everyone else in this society. It seemed everyone outside of my social strata was either unconcerned or unaffected or they were only interested in being entertained and anesthetized by frivolity and titillation and self-gratification. It was all about partying and dancing in the club and bling bling and Krystal and SUVs. And Britanny Spears shaving her fucking head of course. People used to call Ramallah a political band and I felt that was way off-base. Ramallah didn’t take stands on particular issues or tell people how to vote. Ramallah was an attack on pop-culture. Ramallah was an expression of disgust with vacuousness and pose and pretense and self-aggrandizing posturing and everything else that is vapid and frivolous in this society. It still is.
What do you think is your responsibility to your fans? Do you expect to change minds with your lyrics?
Those are two of the most interesting questions I’ve ever been asked.
So, I’ve gotta ask: Blood for Blood. Are there any plans for any type of reunion show—do you think it’ll ever happen? Do you still talk to Buddha? It’s been a few years since the sexual assault allegations were brought to light—is that something the band can ever move on from?
No, no, no, and no.
But as I explained somewhere above, the MUSIC is still possible (because it’s all there inside me). I guess it depends on what people want. If the band NAME is what’s most important to people, than I don’t think I’ll be able to help them. But if the MUSIC is what matters most to people, if the music and lyrics are more important than the name, if people want that story to continue… then I might be able to accommodate them. We’ll have to see what happens. I’ll keep everyone posted…
What’s it like to see your kid brother finding his own successes in the punk scene?
It’s incredible and I love it. It’s especially incredible when you consider that, as close as we’ve always been personally, our bands came up entirely separately without any collaboration or even any mutual points of reference. Back when Blood For Blood and The Ducky Boys were coming up, the punk rock and hardcore scenes in Boston were utterly divided. There was absolutely ZERO crossover between the hard hardcore scene (which is where BFB came from) and the street punk/ oi scene (which is where the Ducks came from). We didn’t even play our first show together until like 1999 or after. So I found it mind-blowing that both of our bands started selling out the Rat completely independently of one another. He deserves it. Not only do I love his music, but he has that lyrical honesty and sincerity which I’ve spent so much of this interview yapping about.
With 2 new albums out, do you have plans to tour (or have a release show) for either Ramallah or Sinners & Saints?
Sinners & Saints is playing a release show at the Middle East in Cambridge Ma on May 29th. S&S has no plans to tour at this point, though we are open to doing a one-off or a weekend here and there. Ramallah may end up doing a release show for the EP in June or July. Or we may hold off until the new full-length is recorded and set for release. Once the new full-length is out, Ramallah will open to playing out and touring (provided of course I think the tour is right for us and worth it).
What do you think about today’s punk/hardcore scene?
The shows Ramallah has played since I’ve been back have been fucking great. I was especially surprised and pleased to see that there were actually as many, if not more young people and new faces in the crowd than there were old timers (all the old heads came out too and it was fucking great to see everyone). Having been part of this scene for a LONG time and having played in a band like Blood For Blood way back in the day, I have seen some pretty crazy shit at shows (shit that is probably going to keep me out of heaven just for witnessing it). But I gotta say, the dancing for the Ramallah shows I’ve done since I’ve been back was SO savage and crazy that I was actually uneasy at times. I’m not talking about violence (as in people stabbing or beating each other cue-balls… y’know, the usual show fun). Thankfully there weren’t too many brawls or melees at the recent shows. I’m just referring the dancing itself. It was so unhinged and frenzied that there were moments where I was actually apprehensive. I’d be onstage singing (or doing what passes for singing with me) and I’d look in the crowd and say to myself “Jesus Christ… they’re fucking MURDERING each other down there. I think I’ll stay up here…” So I’d say the scene is doing pretty damn well.
What’s next for Rob Lind? And is there anything else you want to talk about
Haha, as you’ve probably noticed from this interview, it’s dangerous to give me carte blanche to expound. I might bore someone to death. I just want to tell the truth of my experiences without glamor. To tell it the way it really happened. To share my experiences with those that can most relate and maybe give a voice to the realities of those are dealing with some of the same. ‘Cuz there was such a cost to living the way I did. Not just for me but for everyone else out there living like I did without any safety net at The Edge of the Abyss. There was such an ugly side, such a dark side. So much death and suffering and misery. I’ve buried scores of friends along the way and watched scores of others end up locked up in cages and only via sheer chance did I escape and survive (thus far anyway…). And that’s the core of this whole fucking thing. I need to show that fucking ugly side like no one ever has before. I’m not trying to convince or convert or win anyone over… especially a bunch of milquetoast, sexless little pukes whose narrow lives’ entire horizons are an internet chatroom or reply-thread and who spend their days competing for “first comment” on some punk or metal news site. There’s no reason for them to even check out what I do. It ain’t for them. I just want to keep reaching the kind of people I’ve always reached, both the old and the new. My fellow pilgrims. They know me and I know them.
While I’m on this subject I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that came out to the shows, bought a t-shirt, pre-ordered the new vinyl, or in any other way, shape, or form supports anything that I do and have done in the past. I’d also like to thank some specific people while I have the chance. For helping to save my life and sanity, I would like to thank: Jimmy and Francie Foley, my brothers Mark and Patrick, Anne Foley (RIP), Bob and Alana Falzano, and Anne Marceux. Without these people and all they’ve done for me, I might not be alive today. For helping me get back into music, I would like to thank: my brother Mark, Bob Falzano, Brother Skinhead Craig Silverman, Dom D, and Max G. These guys donated a LOT of time and energy into helping bring Ramallah and Sinners & Saints back. For standing by me in my time of need and for supporting me in everything I do, I would like to thank my brothers JJ Genie, Tall Colin, Chris L, Big Pete, Pboy, Max, Nice Guy Eric and the rest of the crew everywhere. I’d especially like to thank my soul brother Jimmy Knuckles for over 20 years of always having my back. I’m gonna stop here ‘cuz I don’t want to make it too easy for the gang squad to compile a list, haha. And last but not least, I’d like to thank my Deirdre for everything and for being everything.