INGROWN Label: Closed Casket Activities
Take us back to your childhood—what music did you hear around your home, booming out of the cars in your hood, or your headphones?
I turned on Tony Hawk’s Underground 2, I heard “Rock n Roll High School” by The Ramones and I was instantly down. Discovering my dad had a skateboard in the garage led me to asking him more about music, and once he revealed he had a band of his own in the 80s – that was the best hardcore I’d ever heard.
What albums have had a major impact on y’all’s creative spirit?
The 2009 Sugar Rush demo by Sweet Tooth. The way that blast beats could be incorporated into hardcore surprised me and inspired me immediately. There can be a tone of voice in the way that riffs are played and some really can tell a story depending on which way they go. Another insane representation of that is the No Gain 7” by Barge. They were the geniuses of throwing in constant powerviolence style while maintaining pure hardcore rage the entire time. That’s what got me started writing Ingrown.
Give us the science behind the title and artwork for your new album, Idaho?
Idaho is everything to us. The album artwork was all from the genius Ridge Rhine. He had a vision for us and we just told him to go with it.
If you could put three of your songs from your discography in a time capsule to be opened in 2062, what songs would you put in there, and why?
“Bonewalker” off the Dirty demo, just in case someone needs to discover Morrowind. “Chain” from Meathead reminds me of how fun it was to finally write a New York beat. “Shell” off of Gun has everything a guy needs for a Friday night.
Talk to us about these two songs: “Bullet” and “Idaho” (I really love this song) — what was the creative process like and what emotions provoked you to create these songs?
“Bullet” was very fun to write and required me to strum as fast as I possibly could right away. It’s heavy with words that I felt strongly about since I love gun rights for the people and being able to have access to important tools. The song “Idaho” represents my love for the boys and my family. It is a tribute to the local Irish session I would play with in town and the joy it brings me, and it is a tribute to my brother, because I wouldn’t know anything about Celtic music if he hadn’t told me to listen to the Tannahill Weavers.
As a band, y’all have travelled around the world. Through the lens of well-traveled humans, what are some aspects of life that Idaho gives y’all that you could never find anywhere else? What have you seen in other nations that you would bring to your home state?
The true freedom that is public land. How closely accessible trails and wilderness is even right from downtown Boise. No matter where and when you break down or get stuck on or off the road, someone will be running over to help right away.
Arriving in China, we’re greeted with a smile and a gift of great food for all of us. Can’t forget that the mosh was endless and nonstop.
Ross, how special was it for you to cover your father’s band SOC’s song “Asylum”? What energy did INGROWN bring to this tune?
It is the coolest thing. It is the first and best hardcore I’d ever heard and it had always been a dream to try and cover one of their songs. My dad even encouraged us to do it our own way with a twist on it, just to have extra fun with it. The first time we played it live his singer came up and took the mic and sang the whole thing with us.
Talk to us about your community in Boise and how it inspired y’all to create Idaho.
While the unity with the northwest and the rest of the country is strong as ever, we still are far from everywhere else–nestled away in the wild west where we completely have our own great thing going. Everything is appreciated, and everyone is supported. This record is for everyone here who keeps that spirit alive.
Y’all seem to have a special connection to Vancouver, Canada…why is that? We love Ingrown up here!
Hey man, it’s impossible to forget witnessing the first ever trash can being thrown during our set, not to mention a square couple yards (3 feet) of chain link fence also being flung onto the crowd. Both occurred the first times we ever set foot in Vancouver, starting in 2016 at 333. I have seen insane things there and your city has always supported us as if we were from there.
How did your journey from Straight Edge to big time Ganja lovers happen and what benefits has it brought to your life?
The first benefit was inspiring me to be able to pick up a guitar again. An unexpected great loss at a young age changed my life significantly. Whatever I thought before, I didn’t think anymore. But then one night I saw the spirit of hardcore clearly, and I saw myself as I am. I regained my power and Gun was written.
Can you break down your creative arc from your debut LP to ‘Idaho’?
A tour with Obituary absolutely showed me how much other cool stuff you can throw into your songs. Stuff like an overnight lineup change on the road can really test your bravery and prove that you can pull off anything if you believe in yourself. New exciting changes like that especially inspired new ways to approach songs without worrying about anything else. And you can’t get through a Pain of Truth tour and make it out the other side without becoming a true maniac!
Top 5 Strains of Weed and the positive effects of each?
You’re workin with your Cowboy Weed (Liam’s supreme), you’re workin with your Lemon Kush, you’re workin with your Sour Diesel, you’re workin with whatever Seven’s rollin up, and any of these options will send you straight to Cracker Barrel.
