Hardcore band Hit Me Back started in South Central L.A seven years ago and went on to tour about three-and-a-half continents and release a long discography of short fast songs. They were sadly unable to organize an official final show. This interview by Chavo Macias.

What’s going on? Madness within what seemed a perfect outfit—Hit Me Back made sense to a lot of kids world wide and now this break-up? Do tell. Or let’s start this off at birth. How did Hit Me Back come to be?
Dingy Danny (drummer/songwriter): The idea for the band came to us soon after we attended the last Life’s Halt show. We were all coming off of other projects and after seeing Life’s Halt and What Happens Next, it hit us hard—it was a big eye opener to see DIY bands have the impact and reaction that they did. So we turned around and did it ourselves. For us, it brought inspiration. It left us with the idea that we can do so much if we want to do it. It opened our eyes and showed us that people will listen to you if you have something good to say and that’s what we did. We poured our hearts out and told the story of our lives. To this day, I still have people and friends come up to me and tell me, ‘You know that one song? Fuck, man, that’s happening in my life right now.’ And these are songs we wrote years ago.
What was the plan at first? Everybody was really really young.
The plan originally was to get a few songs down, play a few backyard shows, make a demo and call it quits. Abe [vocals] was 14. Albert [guitar] was like 16 or 17. I was 21. Yep, I’m the oldest one. Before Hit Me Back, Abe was playing bass for a local band called the Drunken Turks. Albert and Moises—the original bassist—played in another local band, Urban Assault. Those were their first bands. I on the other hand had just left Kontraattaque about 2 months before starting Hit Me Back. We were all in school at the same time. Abe was in junior high. Albert and Moi were in high school. I was in college. Abe, Albert and Moi were childhood friends. I met them all skating at Roosevelt Park. After only weeks of playing shows, we started getting offers from labels everywhere wanting to release our first record. We became overwhelmed and said, ‘Fuck it—let’s see where this takes us.’ The way I see it, the only reason was probably because we were so fucking young, dude. How many 14-year-old kids do you see jumping and singing? We were one of the few to do it in our neighborhood. And we got that a lot! ‘Oh, they’re sooo young!’ That’s what I think. We weren’t an all-star band! Never! So that couldn’t be the reason. It must have been our age. And probably the positivity we had in us at the time.
So what was the philosophy?
Hit Me Back started as a very positive band. Celebrating youth and letting kids know that growing up in the worst neighborhoods didn’t mean you didn’t have a voice. We were playing a bunch of house shows—mainly in the South Central area. We were also playing Headline Records, the Smell—places like that. Kids would come up to us and say, ‘Fuck, that was fast and awesome!’ Keep in mind that we acted fuckin’ crazy, man. Abe was falling and jumping all over the place. I was flying off the drums. Moi was going apeshit destroying equipment. That’s probably another reason why people dug us—the energy we let out. The youngest person I probably saw sing along to our songs was probably a few kids up in Squamish, BC. They were like ten or twelve. No bullshit, man! They played the show with us up in Canada—their band was called Pieces of Bread. It was positive vibes non-stop, but because we were so young, I don’t think we experienced the world the way it was truly till after we began to grow up. And then we realized, ‘Fuck! Maybe life isn’t so positive—maybe no matter how positive we are, the world will always be the way it is.’
What was it like when that feeling set in? Can you hear the change on the records?
I felt like I could not keep writing poppy happy songs. I felt pissed and wanted to write something heavy, fast and pissed. That’s where the songs from our 7” split with Crucial Section came from. Listen to the ‘Magic School Bus’ record and listen to our split with CxS. You will see the difference. We grew up. Shit changed. We started as an extremely positive band and we’re ending with almost nothing but negative thoughts. We did this for seven years, and we experienced a lot of shit with our closest friends. Our last songs you’ll notice are heavier and mostly about death, near-death experiences and just negative shit that happened to us. That really affected us and somewhat punctured us—probably for the rest of our lives. So that would definitely bleed into the music, and it did. Good or bad, every song and every word we wrote—we lived it. Experienced it and survived it. So yeah, dude, our lyrics are 100% genuine.
What would you say to someone who thinks Hit Me Back is breaking up at the worst time ever? Another wave of thrash-core revival is hitting hard—does that have anything to do with the break up?
We’ve been told that a lot—by people we know and by people who book shows on a totally different level than what we were used to. You know what? It might be the wrong time. We’re at a point where if we wanted to we could take the next step and do something bigger, but I don’t know. I guess having that opportunity and not wanting to take it goes to show that maybe it is time to break up. I would have loved to have been able to finish the European tour we had scheduled and done the last LP, but we just can’t do it.
What is it then? I think anybody who loves the band would want to know why.
Just to say that the last time Hit Me Back actually practiced was about eleven months ago right before we went on the South American tour. Because of that, I think we’re all tired of playing the same songs. Maybe a little bit tired of the sound and maybe little bit tired of each other. I’m sure I’ve gotten on some of their nerves and I know there have been times when some of them have gotten on my nerves. On tour I’m sure the whole band questions themselves—‘Can I do another tour with these guys? When I get home, that’s it—no more tours.’ Then while on tour we get offered more tours, and so that’s made it hard. This last tour in Japan just fell apart since Abraham couldn’t make it and had to be replaced by Oscar Rodriguez from Send The Dogs. So I think that was the breaking point. To answer the question—yeah, it was a little bit of everything.
What are you leaving unfinished? Both philosophically and practically?
At this point, we are leaving a ton of shit behind us. Too much to name. There are so many songs that we never got to practice or play. We have a record ready to be recorded. We didn’t get to tour Southeast Asia and Europe and we’ve been invited and told so many times to tour those countries. But I feel very happy with what we’re leaving behind, dude. I’m glad we were able to inspire people. I’m glad a lot of people and friends were able to relate and feel what we’ve felt. We did more than we expected to do. But at the same time, we are leaving so many things behind. And you never know, man—shit might just flip and who knows? We’ll probably be able to come back and pick up where we left off…
So what’s next for the whole band?
I think I can answer that for the whole band. Me and Bogart [bass] have another band called Send The Dogs and it is going good—we’re actually planning a South American tour for April. I’m also in the process of writing songs for a new band that I’m hoping will pick up where Hit Me Back leaves off, and in this band I will be playing guitar so I’m excited about this project. I just feel since I wrote most of the songs in Hit Me back I can be the one that plays these new songs the way I imagine them. I’m not saying I’m a guitar god or anything, but that’s what I got going on. Abraham plays bass for a band called ASKO. Bogart is also playing in another band called Tortured Christ. As for Albert, I have no idea what he’s up to or if he’s even considering a new project, but if he does we wish him well. Everybody has something.
So who do we thank for the party?
Oh man, so many people. I could have never imagined it happened the way it has. So many cities, so many tours, all the blood, the sweat, the tears, the countless tea-baggings—it’s just amazing and makes you think. Thank you to anybody who helped out even just once—basically thank you to any body who cared enough to come out and see us. Thank you all.
What do you want to see come next?
I would love to see the next band with fourteen- and seventeen-year-old kids rocking the fuck out of their guitars. It would be amazing to see young bands come out to show and tell us their experiences and their lives. Just how we did. Live life, and let it take you where it’s going to take you. If you live your life the way Hit Me Back was in the beginning, good for you—keep it positive. If you end up with a more warped view of life, just ride it out and keep pushing through—learn from it because it will make you the person you will be in the end. Stand strong and don’t let shit get you down because no matter what you’ll always be loved by at least one person, and that there is a good reason for anyone. I leave anyone who might be upset about this break-up or to anyone who might want to tell Hit Me Back what’s right for them with these lyrics: ‘What ever it is that you do, do it with all your heart / don’t ever be ashamed of doing or being what you are.’

VISIT HIT ME BACK AT MYSPACE.COM/HITMEBACK.

Darker My Love “Summer Is Here”

Download Darker My Love’s entire self-titled LP free!

L.A. RECORD used to see Matt Cronk about twice a day—once at an old job sitting behind a desk where we’d deliver personal copies of the paper and once as doorman at Cha Cha, which was a much better venue for his well-known sense of humor. We even screwed him over by ruining his band name—Qui, which you’d think is hard to ruin but we did it—on an L.A. RECORD cover. (Sorry again, Matt.) So now that he needs help paying some monster medical bills, we feel a moral debt to help tonight’s benefit: a viciously heavy line-up of Qui sympathizers Darker My Love and Crystal Antlers (who just left scorch marks on the rug at our anniversary Sunday) plus Melvinists Tweak Bird, rock survivors Icarus Line and South Central hardcore punk band Hit Me Back, favorites on the local warehouse circuit. Though originally a split-benefit for Cronk bills and Manny Nieto’s shuttered Wetanddry studio, Nieto decided to dedicate all proceeds to Matt—local music taking care of its own with a show that would demand mandatory attendance even if it wasn’t to help a guy out.

— Rob Battin

DARKER MY LOVE, THE ICARUS LINE, CRYSTAL ANTLERS, HIT ME BACK AND TWEAK BIRD PLUS DJs KEITH MORRIS AND SAM VELDE PLAY A BENEFIT FOR MATT CRONK TONIGHT—THURS., FEB. 21—AT THE ECHO, 1822 SUNSET BLVD., ECHO PARK. 7:30 PM / $10 / ALL AGES. WWW.ATTHEECHO.COM.

Manny Nieto is a major force in the northeast L.A. music scene—his former studio Wetanddry played host to the Mars Volta, 400 Blows, Circle Jerks, Darker My Love, She Wants Revenge, the Pity Party, Aztlan Underground and the Breeders, to name but a few, and won an L.A. RECORD readers’ pick for best L.A. recording studio. But he’s also a major friend: tonight’s benefit show at the Echo was originally set up to benefit his soon-to-open new studio, but once “Uncle Manny” heard about his friend Matt Cronk—of Qui and thee L.A. Gentlemen Callers—the show was changed to a full benefit for Matt. Manny speaks now with Lovely Linda.

You originally put together tonight’s show at the Echo to benefit your studio, but you changed it when you heard about Matt Cronk’s medical problems. Which is amazingly awesome.
The show was in the plans long ago to help out the studio. Sean from Fuck Yeah Fest had worked on booking it for three months, and we finally got this date. And then I heard that Matt got really sick. I really wanted to help him out, so I told Sean, “If you’ve got a night at the Echo, just do it.” It worked out perfectly because now he’s able to help out Matt, who’s also a really good friend of his. The show is completely to help Matt Cronk out with his huge doctor bills. If you’re a musician, most of us have no health coverage, so if you have a serious illness or need emergency services you are just pretty much fucked. I just hope enough funds are made to help him make a full recovery fast.
How well do you know Matt Cronk?
He calls me Uncle Manny and I have seen him nude. He lives five doors down from me, and a few summers ago when I was recording one of Thee L.A. Gentlemen Callers’ records at Steve Albini’s, me and Calixto would go over in the mornings to go get him and he’d be sleeping on the couch totally nude with a little loin cloth around his waist.
When’s the grand opening of your new recording studio?
I’m hoping to be open and recording late March. The studio is located in Lincoln Heights, which is just northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Damn, my first girlfriend was from Lincoln heights! Ummm, Maria con Manny…
Your former studio Wetandry—which closed its doors last November due to low-end hating neighbors—was known for using recycled analog tape as opposed to digital. What made you go the old school route?
When I started building the studio, the cheapest tape was used recycled. I ended up finding a place that would sell me tapes that were just used for commercials, barely used—the tape is 24 tracks, but commercials only use two or three, so I’d get premium tapes that weren’t really used. For years I just used those tapes. I’d have tapes of old Simpsons commercials, and after recording over it the song would end, and you’d hear Homer go “D’oh!” like a phantom ghost between songs. One time I had Jurassic Park and between the songs you’d hear all these dinosaurs eating flesh.
Wetandry was forced to close because the bands you recorded were so fucking loud. Who was the loudest?
Actually my own band, Distortion Felix. My bass player Juan—in Mars Volta now—plays so fucking loud! I had to build a special room at the studio with his bass rig just to keep the walls from crashing in!
What will the new studio be called?
Manny Nieto Studio, probably. I thought of all these names to use, but in all honesty everyone always just says, “Are you going to Manny’s studio?” So I figure I’m just gonna use that. Manny’s Studio sounds perfect. It’s actually named after my father, not myself. My pops blessed me with his name. He had a huge part of building my first studio. Not a lot of people know that we built it together. We were like the two stooges! Up until that point we didn’t hang out that much, but for that year we hung out every morning, ate lunch together… It was one of the only times we got to hang out. He passed away right at the beginning of the year. I actually signed the lease on the new space on Jan. 1 and I haven’t even done one thing to it ’til this week ’cause it’s been tough. Now I feel better about it. I know if things were different, he would be building the new spot with me today.
What do you hope for with the new studio?
Well, you’re only as good as how good the band is and how good a vibe you can capture on tape. That was the difference with Motown and Sun Studios and Abbey Road and Sunset Sound. They all had one thing—they had great bands recording in them. It’s all a matter of performance. Analog format sets itself up for performance, but if a band sucks, there’s nothing I can do for you. But if you’re using ProTools, man, you can do anything! It’s definitely in debate. The world has changed where digital is the way to go, but I’m gonna roll analog for as long as I can. Being here in L.A., I can only hope that some bands are naïve enough to say, “Fuck it, let’s do it this way and it’ll sound kickass.”
Where can one find the best suadero in town?
TOP SECRET.

DARKER MY LOVE, THE ICARUS LINE, CRYSTAL ANTLERS, HIT ME BACK AND TWEAK BIRD PLUS DJs KEITH MORRIS AND SAM VELDE PLAY A BENEFIT FOR MATT CRONK TONIGHT—THURS., FEB. 21—AT THE ECHO, 1822 SUNSET BLVD., ECHO PARK. 7:30 PM / $10 / ALL AGES. WWW.ATTHEECHO.COM.