Monty Messex: In 1993, I was obsessively listening to Bad Religion’s How Could Hell Be Any Worse. I had this beat up cassette that I’d listen to over and over and over and over again on my Walkman.  That record brought me back to the early '80s hardcore scene I grew up on- the Circle Jerks, the Germs, The Adolescents, bands that I saw at the Fleetwood, the Vex and Godzilla’s. Although Bad Religion’s sound has evolved over the years, their first LP had this raw lo-fi sound that I loved- the riffs, the political lyrics, the style.

So, in '93, I started writing all these early '80s sounding hardcore songs influenced by Hell- Super-fast, super loud, super short songs – like less than a minute.  Some of the songs would include a slow “mosh” and some would just be a sprint.  Those songs ended up being the embryo for my band DFL and eventually became DFL's first record - My Crazy Life. I wanted to write songs that called back to the initial rush I got from the early hardcore scene. The kind of music that just destroyed the room. Not to pat myself on the back... but I think we nailed it.