Inside

This post comes again from Elliot Fox.  Inside is another band I had full intentions of doing a post on, but I'm very glad Elliot came through with this as the Silent Majority took a lot out of me.  Read more below...

The Legend of Ray Brower...

Growing up in Long Island in the 90's, although punk and hardcore had a big impact on me and helped shape a lot of my early musical tastes, I think it's safe to say that nothing rumbled the island more than the birth of emo and I'm talking real emo, not this recycled garbage you're hearing today. I'm talking about grown ass dudes leaving the stage crying, instruments broken, amps turned over, crowds in a sweat, some with tears in their eyes, some with huge smiles and all stomping around and loving every second of it.

Although we'd like to believe Long Island birthed the emo-scene, the style originated in the mid-1980s hardcore punk movement in Washington, D.C., where it was first known as "emotional hardcore" or "emocore." A story goes that emo emerged both as a reaction to increased violence in the scene as well as an extension of personal politics and beliefs of the legendary Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi), who had turned the focus of the music from the community back to the individual. In 1984 bands like Rites of Spring and the MacKaye led Embrace began breaking free of hardcore's self-imposed boundaries in favor of melodic guitars, varied rhythms, and deeply personal, impassioned lyrics. Nostalgia, romantic bitterness, and poetic desperation became the cornerstone of the music.

By the early 1990's, the sound had began to shift and change, blending more with punk and indie rock, but still hanging on to that hardcore mentality. Bands such as Jawbreaker and Sunny Day Real Estate were early leaders of the sound.

Although there were so many emo bands that played a big role in the Long Island scene, for me Inside, the 5 piece from Lindenhurst, was one of the best. They were true champions of the sound and culture and really helped define the Long Island sound. Inside grew out of the band Word of Mouth that featured vocalist Mike Mallamo who later joined Dearly Departed, Tom Cornerford on Bass and Craig Wilis on drums.  These 3 would form Inside in August 1995 with Vinny Corrigan on guitar, who later formed Blood Red with his brother Tommy (from Silent Majority) and Eddie Reyes also on guitar, previously of Mind Over Matter and at that point of Clockwise as well. Inside only recorded a handful of tracks before Eddie was replaced by Jon Florencio. Their sound was a perfect blend of the passion of hardcore, intelligence of indie rock, the anthemic power of punk rock and the DIY mentality that fueled the East Coast and Long Island emo/hardcore scenes at this time. Sometimes slow and emotional, sometimes fast and rockish, Inside was one of the best. For fans of Sunny Day Real Estate, Hot Water Music, Movielife, Silent Majority and Texas is the Reason. Check out some flyers, photos, videos and more on their myspace

Their first and only release with Eddie Reyes was an 8 song self-titled cd which is often called "The Gray CD" now due to its cover art that came out in 1996 on Sunnyside Records.  The track listing on the CD was completely incorrect.  For posterity, the download does mirror the incorrect track listing featured on the CD.  (I think that the correct track listing may be Liquify, then Unsound, Inside, Corners, Destination 2000, Never You, Landscaping and Q&A.  But I'm not sure.  - Jason)

In September 1996, they had the tracks "Absence" and "Radio Flyer" featured on the "516 - A Long Island Hardcore Compilation."

Inside released two 7"s in 1997. One on Motherbox records, containing the anthems "Ray Brower", "Stumbled on a Penny," "Postcard Memories" and "Broken Promise." The second came out on Redwood Records and had the songs " Wait Until Tomorrow" and "Regarding Time Lost." All of these tracks made it onto Seven Inches to Wall Drug album, but you may be able to still score the 7" here http://www.merchdirect.com/MotherboxRecords/Inside?artist=1146

In 1998, they released the CD, Seven Inches to Wall Drug, a collection of all their 7"s, unreleased songs such as "Sandra" and a few live recordings for good measure. That same year, they had their song "Landscaping" featured on the Blood, Sweat & Tears Compilation

I believe it was around 1999 when they released their second and final release, My Funeral on Redwood Records.  They broke up shortly afterwards in the summer of 1999 and had their final show at Deja 1.  They would reunite for a show in 2004 prior to Vinny Corrigan moving to Ireland, and again for two shows on January 8 and 9, 2010.

As mentioned above, Tom, Vinny and Craig would form Blood Red.  Mike Mallamo would join Dearly Departed and later Novena and Mt. Morning.  Jon would join Babyteeth which would change its name to Free Republic of Soul, but mainly concentrate on production work.

Here are all of their recordings:
INSIDE:
The Self Titled "Gray" CD & 516 tracks - http://www.mediafire.com/?hpdjaczyf9joug7
Seven Inches to Wall Drug - http://www.mediafire.com/?xzspvmq2pvgmdwg
My Funeral - Download here - http://www.mediafire.com/?c029jm23g34acqm

Other Links:
myspace: www.myspace.com/insidelongisland
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/INSIDE/275981230440?
LI Music Scene Wiki: http://longislandmusicscene.wikia.com/wiki/Inside