IRISH VOODOO RECORDS
Forced Down,
It’s one thing to look back on the past, and remember what something felt like, sounded like, looked like, and what it meant. And the more people you ask, the more you come to the conclusion that it was many things to many people. Some people remember the past in larger than life glory, some diminish its worth, some were glad to have been there, others see it as a “phase” that has long since past.
Forced Down was something that for me, never left. It was an idea that has always stayed a voice in my heart. Sometimes it cried out loud, and sometimes I could hardly make it out mixed in with all the other noise that life was amplifying.
But the idea that, these wonderful suburbs of southern California, this new world of the eighties, and all the shit being shoved in our conscious, or sub conscious, or things I still don’t think we’ve even begun to fully understand, that they were not so wonderful after all. Some how it all just seemed like a Giant Movie Set, where, from the outside, you saw a perfect town, but as you began to question all of it, it began to look like a bunch of walls, well painted, held up by 2 by 4’s and 4 by 8’s and Sand Bags full of emptiness.
And somehow so many of our families all raced to keep up, but the truth behind so much of our utopia was full of hidden stories, and pain, and hurt and, all of us upholding some unspoken silence, we found ways to be different. Some people got wasted and shut down. Others, like us rejected all the numbness, and fought back by feeling.
Forced Down was just as much about Rising up, as it was about…..
Joey got in touch with me via some sort of web-connected way. I was still in NY at the time, but we talked and he spoke of maybe doing something with us. We stayed in touch, and after some time I ended up back in San Diego after Hurricane Sandy hit NY and the LES where I resided. After being back for a month or so we made plans and he came down to SD. We were initially just going to go thru my lil storage space and see what Forced Down stuff I had packed away. While looking at Old Shirts, Stickers and the 2” reels that had all the original recordings to Forced Down, Amenity, Twist and other Projects, we stumbled across a couple boxes of 7”’s. Upon further digging we discovered 2 boxes, short of 200 records of the first Forced Down “Rise” 7”. There were no covers for them, and I can’t think of the back-story of why they were there. Joey immediately said lets make new covers and put it out. From there came the process of finding photos and content and providing this lil bit of SD Hardcore History. This coming out is equally a testament to the energy and communications I’ve had with Joey and his TRUE respect for what HC embodies.
Since this began all the members have gotten back in touch and all have talked about getting together and jamming out. Maybe just for fun, maybe to play a show.
One step at a time, and only if it feels fluent to its roots. Thanks to Joey, Irish Voodoo and his team for making this in the same respects that the original Rise 7” was produced. Hard Core Mike Down
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