Summer Of Hate 2009

Interview with Steve Assault of the bands Crowd Deterrent, The Struggle, and Race Riot, and organizer of Summer of Hate, an annual hardcore festival in Cleveland, Ohio. Conducted originally via AIM for Artless Nonculture Webzine, April, 2009.

ANC: I know you're pressed for time, so we'll try to make this quick. How long do we got before Summer Of Hate '09?

SA: The show is Saturday, July 11th... it is about 2 and 1/2 months away from this date.

How many years in the running has SOH been going?


This is the 3rd year.

Wanna give us a quick list of some of the bands playing this year? Any returning bands from previous years?

There are a few of last year's bands like STOUT, KNOW THE SCORE, CROWD DETERRENT, DEATHRIGHT, TASTE THE STEEL and AMERICAN WEREWOLVES. We are happy that BLOOD IN BLOOD OUT is going to play this year; they played the 1st year, but not last year, and they were one of the highlights of the show in 2007. Other bands are EMPIRE, UNFORGIVEN, SUBURBAN SCUM, ENEMY MIND, and there's a few more. Plus a surprise or 2 still in store.

So what happened with the venue? You used to run this at Peabody's right? Why has that changed?

We are never fans of big clubs. The shows the last 2 years went pretty smoothly, but we just wanted to have a show where people are not trapped inside some club all day with no reentry, or some fee added on for under-21ers. We decided we wanted to do it somewhere that we could have more control... no bouncers, etc. We wanted the show to be more like a big party, and Kent is the perfect place for that. A college town w/ no grown-ups living around the place to get upset when people are hanging out all day. The show is supposed to be a fun/summer show, so we thought it best to have it someplace smaller where we could have more control/do more outside/etc, etc.

Now the show is at a place called the Vineyard? Where is that exactly in Kent?

It is on 154 N Depeyster St., right off of Main St. and Water St. It is in downtown Kent, around the corner from Rob's Defiance Tattoos, and right by the Europe Gyro.

How much is the cover? What can people expect for their money's worth?

The show will be less than $10. It will be a full day of 14 hardcore bands... 1/2 from the NEOH/Western PA region, and the other 1/2 are some of the best bands from all over the US. We plan on having BBQ outside all day and some other fun summer-type activities.

Will there be horseshoes?

I don't know about horseshoes, but anything is possible. By the way: The promoters do not profit a dime off the show. We do everything for free and all $$$ pays the bands/venue/etc.

Cool. So, any last words before we wrap this up?

We just hope that people who like this kind of music will come and have a good time. We don't make a dime off the show, and we only do it in hopes that people will have a good time and see some good bands as a result of our efforts. Years past have been pretty rowdy and we expect this year to be the same, so weaklings beware!

Good deal.

We hope everyone can have fun. Even if you dislike the bands/stuff going on, the hangouts should be fun. See you July 11th.