Interview with Mitch LOVE not WAR

Over the last 5 or so years i have been going to shows in Brisbane/surrounding areas, there has been an infamous/ominous figure that has stirred many a pot, moshed many a kid, and who's willingness to stand up for his own convictions has captivated me. That figure is Mitch Love aka Mitch War. For some time now I have wanted to pick his brains, and I finally have. This is probably my favourite interview i have done to date... enjoy this.

i'm going to start with a pretty broad question. what inspires you?


what inspires me, in my life i have a very broad scene in what i do each day. my inspiration differs from what i am doing at that point in my life, day, month, year. on an average day my inspiration is drawn from other artists and people who work around me. i tattoo so i am constantly drawing inspiration for my work from fellow tattooers and artists in general. when i am doing stuff with my band, lyrics or writing wise, i draw inspiration from 2 different sources. things that piss me off and agitate me in this world. and things that drew me to the hardcore scene, brotherhood, loyalty and family. it all depends on what mood i am in at the time to which path i take my lyrics in. lately it is a lot of anger and hatred towards things in this world.


you've had the edge for some time now, and it's something you have always been outspoken about since i've known you and long before, no doubt. what does being straight edge mean to you?

being straight edge to me is my conviction, it is my crutch against a world i a lot of the time want nothing to do with. it is my way to dodge and duck out of holes i dont want to get myself into. when the world is peering down on me with its scummy hands, i look down at the half lasered x's on my hands and thank the people around me that i found out what these x's mean. they got me here. they helped paved the conviction and loyalty i have in my heart and mind in this day and age. and that will never change. straight edge taught me loyalty and commitment to my word. once i said i was straight edge that was it, there was no looking back because for me to look back would be to take me down a path i never want to travel.


what lead to your decision to take up the commitment you're most passionate about?

i was smoking a lot of weed and was in a community where drugs were what you did. you finished school on a friday afternoon and planned the party for that night. i always acted like i was into it but never really was. i was already a young fat kid who was cast out by that time anyway, so for me to drink and do drugs was my way of saying " look i can be cool like you" until one day watching barrels go by stoned out of my mind i thought fuck this and never looked back. it took me a year of being clean and not drinking or doing anything until i thought fuck you people, this is what i am , this is who i want to be, if you dont like it turn your back on me, i am better off with out you. that point in my life was when i realised i had a back bone. that very point was my fuck you to the mainstreem of what we are fed down our throats everyday. i felt free from the bullshit i didnt need and have never ever looked back from that very point.


a lot of people have come and go, and so much has changed since the first coming of THE WAR, what has changed for the band, lyrically, musically etc..?

the direction of the band has changed a lot. when we started it was nothing serious it was me basicly writing people off with a microphone and everyone kinda laughed at it. until we started to actually get a following through our more serious songs like" puff puff you're dead" and what not. it came to a point for me and simmo where we thought we are actually getting people into straight edge and hardcore it is time to take this chance by the throat. i have like you said always been outspoken about what i believe so i started putting pen to paper with more serious lyrics then just your average burn everyone songs. i thought to myself if these kids are going to look up to me as someone they want to be like then i am going to write stuff i feel proud of myself. so hence i started writing things that in this day an age effect my everyday life and the way i think. i also wanted to give kids a band they could sing along to with big black x's on their hands, so thats where songs like "defend your honour" and "the war" came from.


what made you want to start the band again?

it was just like i said in the question before, i saw that we had an oppurtunity to be the voice of young straight edge and hardcore kids so we took up the band again and started pushing it with both morals, and backbone. we wanted to make it something edge and hardcore kids were proud of.

i have to admit, when i heard THE WAR was back again, i wasn't at all fussed, and when i heard of the signing to SEVENTH DAGGER RECORDS i was even less enthused. but after listening to what you're saying these days, talking to you personally and others in the band i can appreciate where you guys are coming from. that, and the new shit's fucking killer... do you think THE WAR has been largely misunderstood by a lot of people?

yes we have been largely misunderstood from the start, but we bought that on ourseleves. it was me singing kill an emo kid and what not so i can to take that bullshit on my shoulders. but in saying that it doesnt take much to read the lyrics from the start to the lyrics now and you will see a dramatic change. people in hardcore are ignorant, they dont want to hear what true hardcore bands have to say, they want to see cool dudes on stage telling them there is a massive breakdown coming and to cause blood or some shit. we write aggressive music for you to take out you tension and stress to. i want kids grabbing me by the throat screaming straight edge back at me as hard as they can, thatlone makes me never want to give up this band because i know that kid has been listening to our cd at home reading the lyrics and liking what we are doing.

i know there's been a bit of chit-chat lately about some shit that went down with another 'infamous' brisbane straight edger... the situation itself i don't particularly want to touch on, but there's been a massive shift in straight edge it seems, something that swept through brisbane a couple of years ago and it's back again. everyone wants to be 'in', everyone seems to need to paste some image of themselves to this life-choice we've made. do you think facits of straight edge have slipped into 'what's marketable' rather than 'what's best for your own well being'?

once again this stuff is something that does hit home with me. i have spent years trying to build a platform for kids to feel proud about themseleves, and now once again it is all being dragged through the mud. when i hear stuff come from mouths like " there is no market for straight edge hardcore in australia" it makes me want to rip out throats. you can not possibly stand on stage and say you are giving your all to this when you change direction of your band so you can get big or make money off it. kids are forgetting that it is ok not to wear a straight edge shirt to a show, its ok not to x your hands for one show. but at the same time if you want to do it then fucking do it! it pisses me off that we are always the ones cast out and being talked shit on when we are the ones still here, we are the ones those bands and band members were singing along to before their bands started. give up your bullshit egos and get behind hardcore with heart. jealousy is a fucking bitch. its not my fault simmo can write a faster riff and your band trys to steal it but plays it slower and worse, in your face haha.

what advice would you give to any kids that are feeling a little lost/getting caught up in images rather than thought processes, edge related or otherwise?

take a step back. and sit on your bed and listen. take out cds from bands that have influenced you to get into hardcore. take off your bands shirt and get back to the basics of what hardcore is about, passion, family and love for the message. i remember when bands around here didnt even have band shirts and i was writing against on plain black shirts because i loved the band. we are all way to caught up in the next new cool shirt coming from the next touring band than actually reading and hearing what there about first. they might be singing about how they fucked your mum, just because it sounds cool, doesnt always make it cool.


what are plans for the band in the future? any big tours/travel plans? another record? i know you guys just released a 7"...

umm we are writing at the moment for a ep release on seventh dagger records. we are just trying to step it up harder and harder each time. i am trying to write lyrics that hit you smack in the face and you think fuck did he actaully write that. other than that we are taking some time off to relax and write the ep. we have some shows end of november with antagonist ad but other than that not much. plans for america and europe are always on the go.

the UNTOUCHABLES is something else that has changed a lot since i first heard of it after you lil al, simmo and meatdog not being able to land girlfriends and embraced it. there's a lot of you guys these days and i know you've all been dating. what is the xUSEx all about? how did it all come about? it's a crew?

from the start it was a brotherhood and it always will be a brotherhood, its something all of us understand and thats all that needs to be said.

i know nothing about this side of life, so i only ask being i'm totally clueless... and i know a lot of other people are also, what's the difference between crews and gangs?

i think a gang is more orgaised crime kinda stuff, a crew to me is more like a brotherhood, if you are in financial trouble, emotional trouble or anything like that your crew is there for you. just because you are proud to say your in a brotherhood doesnt always mean your violent or want to start trouble. for us its the exact opposite.

another big part of your life is tattooing, weather it's covering yourself head to toe or inking others. what made you want to become a tattooist? i had no idea you were artistic....

ha yeah i want to be covered from head to toe and am getting pretty close to it ha. i saw a tattoo magazine when i was around 16 and thought thats what i want to look like. i got my first tattoo at 17 and thought this is what i wanna do. i have been getting tattooed off link for years and years now and showed him some drawings, he kinda felt sorry for me i think and offered me a job haha.



who are some of the artists out there you look up to artistically and why?

i look up to my boss's link and tim a lot. they have both done hard time to get to where they are now. i see link working 7 days a week and everyday just pullin gout stuff i dont know where it comes from. every chance i have i am watching him tattooing thinking how are you doing it, the whole time he is writing me off and telling me to piss off but i always watch haha. tim on the other hand has come from being an apprentice to being an awesome tattooer, he has put in the hard yards and it is now paying off for him. thats what i want to be like. i dont want it to be handed to me i want to have to work for it. other artists i look up to a sailor jerry, uncle allan, rachi, derek noble, filip leu, shige, chris detmer and so on, there is so many artists i like its not even funny.


if people wanna get in touch to get tattooed, how would they go about doing it?

the best way is to come into the store at taringa, i work every day but tuesday wednesday at all star tattoo in taringa.

thanks a million for doing this interview man, i really appreciate it. do you have any last words, plugs etc?

check out third strike, relentless and no love lost. all legit australian hardcore bands that are so good its not even funny. listen to earth crisis and embrace the beauty hahah other than that be yourself and if you want to talk to me come see me at a show. i may look angry and am a lot of the time but i am always here if needed. USEXXX