video shot and edited by: George Forste 2006/10 idgf underground www.myspace.com/idgfunderground myspace.com/​xrepresentx814 www.facebook.com/pages/xrepresentx/128660250484121 So True At All Costs is truly a call to arms if there was ever one, an impassioned album filled with anthems and sing-a-longs xrepresentx in all their brutal quality have produced a straight edge album that should be considered a modern hardcore classic and this is only the beginning for the band that back up what they say with direct action it was definitely time for me to reach out to them and let them voice there opinions…”what the fuck” Hi Derek, you know what’s coming, your surname Ski is an abbreviated Polish name and since I live in the UK which of course is part of Europe (and quite possibly has a denser polish population here than in Poland:-) what is your full surname? Golembeski. As formidable as it seems, it's simply Go-lem-bes-ki. But seeing as It’s been botched time after time, Derek ski stuck, and Mr' G stuck for my students Anyway aside from triviality please if you would introduce yourself and your band mates, Who are you? Where did you meet? And tell me about how xrepresentx came to be? The story of xrepresentx took place long ago in my basement in late 2002. Erie has always had a strong straight edge scene, and I felt that as a prominent straight edge kid still around at the time, I should carry on the straight edge legacy. I had a few ideas that I wanted to say in songs, so I started jamming one day. After putting together a few songs I got some friends together and there xrepresentx was born. Over the close to 6 years since our first show, the face has changed many times, but the message and intensity has never diminished. xrepresentx is now myself as well as Brian on guitar, RJ on drums, Tyler on bass and Shawn on guitar. A real fun bunch, if I can say myself. Tell me a little about what you all do outside of the band when you’re not touring? When you replied to me Derek you mentioned that you trained as a teacher in Germany, feeling you had to immerse yourself in the culture to get the most out of the experience, what was it like? How do’s European culture fair with the US?  I'm a teacher, which is where I get my money to do that band. 3 of the other dudes are in school, but as college students, haha. I did do a semester abroad, which was awesome. I made some good friends, travelled a bunch and saw a bunch of shows. I was even at ninjafest 2004 in London. How about that! I love Europe. If I didn't have so many roots here, I’d definitely cross the pond for good. How old were you all when you discovered hardcore and can you remember your first show? It opened my eyes to another world (25 ta life / Shutdown ’99 were mine) I just couldn’t get enough…what excites you about hardcore and the hardcore scene? Oddly enough I hated hardcore for a while. I was still stuck in my grunge rock days until 9th grade, which comes out to be 1997/98. I started going to shows then because a bunch of my friends played in a band, and I really liked it. It progressed to going to every show possible, and here I am today. Hardcore contains a completely different group of people with a completely different mindset than you'll find anywhere else in the world. Being that in hardcore, you meet people from EVERYWHERE, you may not see them for years on end. But you know when you meet up again; it'll be like nothing changed. Its so refreshing when a hardcore band has something to say, be it a message like straight edge or a political viewpoint the last few years in the hardcore scene even here in the UK kids seem to have forgotten it’s roots they need to be reminded that hardcore is an open forum for freedom of expression, open hearts and minds, I miss the days when bands would make speeches in between songs, challenge kids with ideas and concepts and stop playing when a fight would break out. So what are xrepresentx bringing to the table, tell us about your message? Well, I always am inclined to write about straight edge. It's just what I feel passionate about. But I try to write it in ways that haven't been said, or about things that people might not bring up commonly. The Long Haul is pretty much that song where I threw all my thoughts on the table. Sort of a cut and dry, this is what modern straight edge is type of deal. We've written songs about religion starting wars, shit bands who try to profit off hardcore, and the next record has a song about capital punishment and a song trying to stop people from following racial stereotypes. What do’s being straight edge mean do you? You also have a t-shirt with the quote “don’t call me drug free” that I think is very apt for this question because its explanation centre’s on for me what straight edge truly means, so please if you don’t mind explain how that t-shirt came to be? Well, simply put, I’m not drug fr