Violent Apathy

As the West and East Coasts got even more attention, the Midwest was a significant hotbed for hardcore punk through the early to mid-’80s, and Michigan’s Violent Apathy certainly added their share of sound towards the proceedings. Violent Apathy had been shaped in the springtime of 1981 by guitarist Richard Bowser, vocalist Kenny Knott, and bassist Jim Forgey, three close friends who was raised collectively in Jackson, MI and had been all attending Traditional western Michigan College or university in Kalamazoo at that time. Bowser, Knott, and Forgey teamed up with Eliot Rachman, a drummer who got performed in the Meatmen to get a spell; while operating a summer work in Lansing, MI, he previously made close friends with people of Negative Strategy, the Necros, as well as the Repair, who helped expose him to the brand new faster-and-louder sounds on offer. The music group also impressed Necros member Corey Rusk, who got launched an archive label called Contact & Proceed; Violent Apathy made an appearance for the label’s fabled 1981 Procedure for Eradication compilation EP, a touchstone in the Midwest hardcore picture. The band started gigging regularly across the condition, and in 1982, Todd Visser changed Jim Forgey on bass. In early 1983, guitarist Tommy Fuller converted the band right into a five-piece, and Andy Bennett changed Eliot Rachman, both with time to record a six-song EP for the Indiana-based Gravelvoice label, Right here Today. The music group also started to step out from the Michigan picture to play displays in Indianapolis and Chicago; the latter display was supposedly went to by a Dave Grohl, who recalled the function within an interview with Michael Azerrad for his publication on Nirvana, Arrive when you are. In the summertime of 1983, Eric Lorey had taken over on bass from Todd Visser, which lineup continuing to experiment Michigan until Violent Apathy known as it per day in Sept of 1984. Knott afterwards continued to entrance the bands Simply Say No as well as the Monokulators, so that as a member of the Western Michigan School student group Learners for Progressive Actions, helped to create several noted independent rings towards the WMU campus, including Small Threat, Dark Flag, the Minutemen, as well as the Misfits. Visser eventually performed with Dark Springtime, Eliot Rachman was an associate from the Virelles, and Richard Bowser led the charmingly called Dick & the Balls. A posthumous EP of uncommon and unreleased Violent Apathy materials, Reason, premiered with the German Shed & Present label in 1996.