On December 1st, 2022 my friend Nick and I interviewed the Bloomington Indiana hardcore band Full Stride on the radio. I recently caught up with Chance (vocals) on Full Stride, his new bands, Indiana hardcore and much more.

It’s been 14 months since you and some Full Stride members were on the radio with me. Hardcore aside, how has life in Bloomington been since then? 

Hey Dillon! Thanks for asking me for the interview! I’m glad you’re getting to keep the show!

I honestly can’t believe it’s been that long. A lot has happened since then as far as hardcore goes. As far as regular life it’s much of the same, but I’m doing great! Me and my girlfriend Betsy who sings in Velocity are still in the same house having tons of bands spending the night, and I’m still doing warehouse grunt freight stuff at a big indie label that will go unnamed. Other than that working on mopeds, running, climbing, and other stuff like that. Chillin’ and travelling here and there.

You have been hard at work booking and building your local hardcore scene.  Respect, you’ve been working your ass off.  What’s it been like doing that over the past year?

Thanks for the love on the booking front. I know me and you are in “in-between tour stops” cities, so you know how much of an ass-buster it can be. It’s honestly been a dream come true. I started booking shows here like 2 years ago because I didn’t see a lot of the stuff me and my friends wanted to see. I made a list a year and a half ago that was like, bands I want to eventually book, and honestly I’ve been able to check off a huge majority of them. It’s a lot of work to make shit happen here. Lack of venues and stuff, but now that Bloomington is on the map things just work out. There are a ton of people a part of it now too. Me and Betsy book most of the shows, but there are a ton of kids that do everything from running door, to flyering, to just coming out and moshing. I definitely can’t say I’m the reason for any of it. The whole crew is constantly working on it and they all put as much in as me. And there’s a whole group of old heads that support us here and in Indianapolis. One friend that’s a punk in her 50’s helped us do a fundraiser to putting down the up-front cost for more available all-ages spaces, so things have definitely gotten better from what they were even a year ago. That’s not to say it hasn’t had a few stinky shows and hiccups, but it’s been amazing overall. 

In our radio interview, you mentioned how much you had wanted to start a straight edge band.  Since then, What Counts has started and taken off.  Share about starting that band and how that’s been.

What Counts has been badass! The only straight edge band in the state! Thanks for showing Pat Flynn the shirt. Fiona and Lucas, the guitarist and drummer, play in a Turning Point type band called Senescence, and our bass player Will also plays bass in Full Stride now. Alex went all-in on the podcast front! We had all been talking about starting an edge band for a while before we just decided to start it over the summer. We have a demo out and we just got done recording a new EP + a Floorpunch cover. It’ll be out very soon and we’re going all in on the Lockin’ Out worship. We also have a week run planned with an East Coast band this April. 

Along with playing bass in Velocity, you also run RTR Tapes.  How have things been going with that and anything planned coming up you can share about?

Velocity is fronted by my girlfriend Betsy, and Kahler from Full Stride plays guitar, so communication is very easy in that band. Our drummer is a skate rat guy that Kahler knew, and he was like “this guy is insane, we have to get him in the band.” He’s also a world record speedrunner. We have a small midwest run planned for May plus a ton of cool local shows, but that’s my “hot commodity” band, because we can’t tour a ton or anything. All I do is sit back and play Kahler’s guitar parts on bass, so I can’t say I contribute a ton. I’m just glad they asked me to be in such a fun band. As far as RTR goes I think I want to take it up a notch even more this year. It’s always been meant to be a tape label that just focuses on putting out stuff from our little circle of bands around the midwest, so that’s what I’m going to keep doing, but I want to take it up a notch. I’m going to do a few flexi releases alongside the tapes for a couple bands. I like having it as a name that my group of friends can be like “yeah all our bands are on this one thing.” We just put out a tape for War and Rumor from Springfield. Bee Prevention is in that band. We’re also doing Chain Rule from Akron and Tatakae from Indianapolis. And a bunch of other ones that haven’t been announced yet. 

You’ve experienced the joys of DIY booking in having to find new spots to have shows.  How have you been able to do that and keep the scene thriving?

Hahaha yes, venue crises happen constantly. The people who ran our last spot got evicted, so me and Betsy had to scramble to re-home a bunch of shows. Like I said, our old head friend Beth organized a little fundraiser to help us pay for a few “in-between” spots that were pricier. One is a church and one is a community center owned by the city. They’re more expensive than average, but at least they don’t ask for insurance. We ended up finding a more permanent spot called Roses. It’s an art space run by a punk that’s a few years older than us. I’ll keep using the church and community center for bigger shows, but Roses is perfect for most stuff. Going to your question though, I think it’s the kids that keep it thriving! They keep starting new bands and coming to every show I book, no matter the touring bands or the space! And they all have their own individual swag when dancing now too. Side to sides live in Bloomington.

How has the straight edge life been? 

The straight edge life is always going good. My X grows darker everyday, and more kids in our scene have claimed edge, so my shirts are all covered in sharpie stains now. But in all honesty, being in a straight edge band in a place that has historically always been very much NOT on the “capital H” side of the spectrum is hilarious sometimes. We always have bitter old heads getting mad about the most benign shit and posting about it online, like when we make fun of whippets.

Upcoming plans for Full Stride, What Counts and Velocity?

This is the year of “bigger plans than last year.” Full Stride has a small run this week, and we constantly play out of town, but I’m shooting for a full Midwest tour this summer hopefully. Velocity has a weekender coming up in May in addition to a ton of other cool shows in a 2 hour radius. What Counts has a small Northeast run with a Northeast band in April, and our new EP will be out before that. Tons of Bloomington shows and RTR releases this year for everyone. 

Final thoughts, shout outs, listening recommendations? 

Shout out Springfield, Bloomington, and Cinci hardcore. Listen to Senescence. Read Mundane Moshers and Mandate of Hardcore. Listen to Youth In Asia (Indianapolis/Bloomington) when the demo comes out. Don’t do whippets. Aim to be chiller than most. Free Palestine. Look out for the new What Counts EP. Thanks G!

Chance XXX