The Blood and the Sweat: The Story of Sick of It All's Koller Brothers

by Lou Koller, Pete Koller, Howie Abrams, Chris Carrabba (Foreword by)

Overview

When it comes to New York City hardcore, its community proudly boasts Lou and Pete Koller—brothers who have dominated the scene worldwide since 1986 with the aurally devastating Sick of It All as their vehicle.

“One the best books ever written about hardcore, period...” —Decibel Magazine

For Flushing, Queens natives Lou and Pete Koller, hardcore has become a lifestyle as well as an unlikely career. From the moment these siblings began applying their abilities to punk’s angrier, grimier sub-genre, they quickly became fifty percent of one of the most intense and compelling quartets to ever claim the movement—the legendary New York hardcore band, Sick of it All. Contrary to popular belief, Lou and Pete are proof positive that you don’t need to have lived a street life, or come from a fractured, chaotic home in order to produce world-class hardcore. If Agnostic Front are the godfathers of New York hardcore, then vocalist Lou and guitarist Pete are its grand masters.

The Blood and the Sweat is the no-holds-barred autobiography of two brothers who have never wavered, as well as an unrelenting depiction of the American dream, and the drive and determination required to live it—regardless of whatever obstacles appear before you. Featuring commentary from family, friends, bandmates past and present, and their peers, including Gary Holt (Exodus, Slayer), Kurt Brecht (D.R.I.), Barney Greenway (Napalm Death), and more...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781642932256
Publisher:	Post Hill Press
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	1,160,514
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Lou and Pete Koller were born and raised in Queens, New York. Together, they formed Sick of it All in 1986—the most popular and successful hardcore band in the world. They have released a dozen full-length albums on both independent and major labels, in addition to several EPs and singles. Lou currently resides in New Jersey and Pete makes his home in Florida.

New York native, Howie Abrams, has been a fixture in the city’s music and entertainment scene since the early 1980s. Having held creative positions at companies such as In-Effect Records—which he co-founded in 1988—to Roadrunner Records, Jive Records, Zomba Music Publishing, and Warner Music Group, Howie has discovered and helped guide the careers of numerous highly influential and successful artists.

As an author, Abrams has created The Merciless Book of Metal Lists, Misfit Summer Camp: 20 Years on the Road with the Vans Warped Tour, Finding Joseph I: An Oral History of H.R. from Bad Brains, Hip-Hop Alphabet, Hip-Hop Alphabet 2, and The ABCs of Metallica.

Table of Contents

Foreword Chris Carrabba 8

Introduction Howie Abrams 14

Part I Growing up Koller 18

Part II Disco Sucks, Fuck Everything 38

Part III Sick of It All: That's the Name! 58

Part IV Road Less Traveled

1 So, What Are You Going to Do? 82

2 It's an Ongoing Give-and-Take Thing 86

3 The Asshole Brothers 93

4 The Shitbox 94

Part V How Can They Be Offended by That?! (Songwriting)

1 Not Opening the Floor to Political Discussion… 98

2 Injustice System 102

3 Alleyway Style 105

Part VI Blood, Sweat and No Tears

1 Harder Than You 108

Part VII Cool, More Shows!

1 I Don't Even Know How Anyone Got Our Phone Number 116

2 It Ain't About No Goldfish… (Touring with Exodus) 117

3 Oh Well, We Lost One of Your Guys (Touring with D.R.I. and Nasty Savage) 119

4 New Titans on the Bloc (Touring with Sepultura, Napalm Death, and Sacred Reich) 129

5 Urban Undisciplined (Touring with Biohazard) 144

Part VIII Europe Calling

1 Your Record Came Out on Sony Here, and Now People Say They Hate You! 152

2 Hello Marc, a Band Just Cancelled, I Have Room for Sick of It All (Festivals) 164

3 Always with Us (Embracing the Culture) 170

Part IX Alone

1 Just Smack Those Kids Already! 174

Part X Just Look Around

1 We've Got More Than Three Days This Time. That's Good. 182

Part XI Real Rock Concerts (Touring)

1 Time Doesn't Matter, Age Doesn't Matter 188

2 Just Goofing Around in the Van 192

3 Jackass before Jackass 195

4 They'd Poke at You and Poke at You Until You'd Snap 199

5 Head in a Bag 204

Part XII Romones, The Clash, Sex Pistols-All on Major Labels

1 Scratch the Surface 206

2 Built to Last 213

Part XIII More Real Rock Concerts (More Touring)

1 Too PC for Their Own Good (924 Gilman Street) 218

2 Drowning in Germany 220

3 Fuckin' Bus Drivers 223

4 Brushes with Greatness 225

5 September 11, 2001 231

Part XIV The Fat Years

1 If You Had Been with Fat, You'd All Own Your Own Homes by Now 238

2 Call to Arms 241

3 Yours Truly 244

4 Life on the Ropes 247

Part XV Wayne Lo

1 My God. It's on the Cover of the Daily News! 250

Part XVI Even More Real Rock Concerts (Even More Touring)

1 Fuckin' SLAYYYEEERRR! 254

2 Warped Tour 258

3 Rotten in the State of Denmark 261

4 Fucking Hammerhead 262

5 New York United 265

Part XVII The Century Media Years

1 Death to Tyrants 268

2 Based on a True Story 271

3 XXV Nonstop 274

4 Last Act of Defiance 276

5 Wake the Sleeping Dragon! 279

Part XVIII Staying Relevant

1 There's Fucking Stigma Attached to Hardcore! 284

Part XIX All in the Family

1 He's Uncle Freddy, and Then There's Uncle Vinnie, and Uncle Davey, and Uncle Lou.… 298

2 The Kids Will Have Their Say 312

3 Yo! Logan Tells Me You're in a Hard Rock Band 314

4 It's Kind of like Russian Roulette 316

Part XX A few of Our Favorite Things 322

Acknowledgments 328

About the Authors 332

Editorial Reviews

"It's not that I didn't notice that Lou and Pete were different, I just didn't care. There was no, 'They don't have long hair, what's wrong with this picture?' They were just in a ferocious band. They were badass, and they're still badass."

Gary Holt

"When we took them on tour after their first album came out, those guys really got the crowd going with their New York Hardcore sound. They were young, but very professional. Eventually they took US on tour in Europe because they'd gotten so big there. I think they referred to D.R.I. as 'the band that taught them to thrash.'"

Kurt Brecht

"Whenever I spend time with those guys, there's always a smile. It's always light-hearted, yet I have this feeling that it's us against the world. Lou and Pete have a grasp on reality which, unfortunately, most guys don't have. They don't expect things to be handed to them. They've worked hard to gain the respect people have for them."

Barney Greenway