It is I, Maris The Great! You shall now tell me how your mortal band began.

George: Well, long story short, we’ve all known each other for many years. We’ve all been in different bands in the New York, Hardcore scene. Mike was in a group called Cold As Life, which was from Detroit. So, after doing all these other bands, we decided to get this band together.

Where did you get the intriguing name for your group?

George: We got the name Agents of Man from a book called “The Third Wave,” which was a sociopolitical type of book. It referenced these type of people doing something innovative in the future. We thought it matched pretty well with what we were trying to do with the music.

How did the sound evolve from the beginning to now?

Zack: It’s pretty much the same style, just more polished. We had a few member changes since the beginning, so it’s become a little more harder, but also a little more melodic. It’s a little more extreme than it was.

Mixing both elements is trendy now. Were you anticipating this trend? Or were you simply coming from your heart?

George: We wanted to play music that we enjoyed, regardless of what the trends were at the time. I’ve seen the scene change three or four times in the past few years. We just kept doing what we did from the beginning. Now we’re seeing all these bands around us – Metalcore, or whatever, starting to incorporate melody and singing. It’s definitely becoming the trendy thing now, but we always did it, because we loved doing it. We didn’t want to play just one, certain style.

Hardcore mortals can be pretty picky and resistant to such infusions of style. How did the scene react?

George: The more open-minded people liked it. I’ve always felt you either love us or hate us. It was received well.

Chris: The majority of people were receptive to the new style, which isn’t really new at all. We’ve been playing our music since 95 in our previous band Train of Thought. The creativity of the band just grew with age and in my opinion was groomed to perfection.

Rey: Most of the scene we initially played to, which was Hardcore, wasn’t used to hearing what we were doing yet. It took other bands to come out, doing the same thing to really create an awareness for it. It was a little awkward at first, especially when we were playing on bills where none of the bands were singing. Even God Forbid sings now, but when we played with them at one our first shows in a place called Castle Heights, in Queens, nobody on the bill was singing.

Did you ever feel any pressure to conform?

Rey: Fuck no. I personally have always loved our shit. The melody was always a major part of the music. We knew that George could sing, so we knew that we had to utilize it. His voice is another weapon in our arsenal. All of us have been in Hardcore bands. We love that music and we love that scene, but it’s natural to evolve.

Chris: This band is breaking musical boundaries, however it is not done with the purpose of being different. We are just simply doing what makes us feel good. We are playing and writing music that inspires us to keep living and to keep struggling in a world and industry that is so unforgiving.

Mike: I moved out here from Detroit. I moved to New Jersey because my girl was from here. I used to know these niggas from Bulldoze. When I was reintroduced to them as Agents of Man and I heard them play, not a lot of people were mixing up everything. You were either melodic or hard. Right from the beginning, I thought there was something really special about the group and the way they did it. I think when the group first started, the group was ahead of their time. Their music wasn’t in one niche that was easily categorized. You know, we are all music lovers. That’s kind of the relationship we’ve always had. We’ve always been music lovers, you know what I’m talkin’ ’bout? When I first saw these guys, I was like “wow, when they bring it hard, it’s hard. But when they sing, I was like, “God damn, that shit’s hot.”

Many mortals know you only from Sworn Enemy. Sworn Enemy will die! You shall now tell me about your time with them and why you left.

Mike: I played with them and we had a great run. There were a couple of reasons I left, but maybe one of them was I couldn’t play everything I wanted to play and do everything I wanted to do. You know, we kind of had a different vision. There’s no beef or anything like that. Everything is fine. There were just some differences of opinion. I’ve always loved Agents of Man. It just so happened that their bassist had left at the same time I had left Sworn Enemy. It ended up happening like peanut butter and jelly. It just ended up working out really well.

I would think it would be frightening for a mortal to leave a band with as strong a reputation and name as Sworn Enemy.

Mike: It’s definitely hard to start over. All Sworn Enemy has to do is write a good record, stay out of trouble and they’ll be fine. Sworn Enemy have had amazing opportunities and I never took that for granted – ever. I was always there and always felt very blessed. So, while it’s always hard to start over, at the end of the day, I think what it’s about is, “are you having fun?”At the end of my time with Sworn Enemy, maybe I wasn’t having fun. I always liked performing, but musically, it was a little stiff for me. Agents of Man is really, really dope. It was ahead of it’s time, you know what I mean? This makes me a lot happier.

Did Agents of Man’s deal with Century Media come about as a result of your Sworn Enemy connections?

Mike: It came together just like everything else. I was a big fan of the group way before I ever joined the group. We’re all good friends and as I said before, we’ve all know each other a long time before all of this other stuff happened. It was just a natural thing. By the time I knew I was leaving Sworn Enemy, Agents of Man and I had already begun working together. We made the record, or what we thought was going to be the record. It ended up being the demo. We finished it one day before I headed over to Europe to do my final tour with Sworn Enemy. While I was over there, we played a lot of really big festivals. A lot of people were there. I happened to see Robert from Century Media and he’s really cool. He actually already knew what was up and asked me about Agents of Man. So I happened to have this demo with me, right there. I gave it to Robert, we got nice and drunk and I called him when I got home. Ironically, he happened to be in New York when I called him, so we met, chatted some more and things went rolling from there. He liked the band. He said he wanted to sign them from before, but things didn’t work out. Robert is a great guy. He likes to see the music that he likes, getting signed.

What ethnicity are you?

Mike: I’m half Vietnamese and half German; the two best war nations of this century. I’m a Euro-Asian motherfucker from Detroit that now lives in New Jersey (laughs)

I’ve always heard Asian men have small wee wees. Does this apply to you?

Mike: No, I got a decent sized, purple dick. It’s a purple, fuckin’ Barney cock (everyone laughs). The thing with Asian people having small dicks is you have to remember that most of them are like 2 foot 2 or at most 5 foot, fuckin’ 5. I’m six feet tall because I’m half German. So, yeah, I’ve got a decent sized, purple piece.

Most alluring! I shall now discuss your value with the other mortals of the band. (Turns to the rest of the band.)What did Gook bring to the band once he joined?

Chris: Mike brought Vietnamese hot sauce.(Laughs)

George: Gook brought discipline. He’s a machine. He doesn’t stop working. His connections did help out, but it was his drive. I mean, we were all friends. He was a fan of the band. He was always there and would help us out however he could. When the situation happened where he could join, we were like “all right.” Aside from his work ethic, he’s a great player and a great showman.

Rey: Mike’s a massive asset. He brought us all together, taught us how to communicate once again. He also brought a business knowledge. Despite what anyone thinks, this is a business. It’s art and it’s fun, but it’s still a business. He came from the outside viewing us and brought a perspective that maybe we needed at the time. All of us are passionate about our point of views. Mike would step back and help us communicate. He’d be like…”What I think George was trying to say was this…” or ” I think what Rey means is this…” He really brought us together and is a major, major asset to the band.

Zack: Gook brings the war ethic. We’re fighting a battle, so Gook sits us down and gives us the battle plan.

Is Mike the one that cracks the whip?

Zack: We all crack the whip. We all crack whips at each other (laughs).

What do the rest of you bring to the band?

Zack: Chris is the MacGyver. He can fix anything. If it’s broken, Chris will fix it – from your car to…anything..

Mike: Chris could fix the ozone layer with duct tape (everybody laughs). Chris is the backbone of the band. He’s the fuckin’ drummer. He’s the solid, fuckin rock. When things get hectic, we run to Chris and he hooks it up. (Laughs).

Chris, you’re known for “Bulldoze burgers.” You shall now explain this mortal dish to me

Chris: Well basically a Bulldoze burger consists of two things: FRESH MEAT and my special seasoning which I carry with me where ever I go. Ray from Full Blown Chaos created the name Bulldoze Burger one day when he and the fellas were over at our house and we had a cook out. Zack, George and I were in a well known New York Hardcore band named Bulldoze (92-95) so hence the name.

Zack Rey brings the negativity (everybody laughs) Rey brings the tightness and the groove. He’s very meticulous. Puda brings the anger and the hostility to our shit. I bring…everything (laughs) I am the band and the main dude (more laughter).

How do Agents of Man songs come together?

George: We have a weird writing process. I might have lyrics or a melody I wrote six months ago. For example, we have a new song we are writing right now. Rey wrote it. He had a few riffs, put them together and we started messing with it. It’s really unorthodox, the way we write. Zack will come with something, or maybe I will, and I’ll be like “Let’s try this.” That’s how it usually falls together. We don’t try and sit there and try to put things together. We like to let things just kind of happen.

Rey: It can start with a simple riff, or a couple of riffs that work together.Maybe George will come over on an off day and I’ll be jamming something out on an acoustic. He’ll hear something in his head – maybe a melody – and he’ll start singing it. It’s always really casual. A lot of our writing is very casual. It can be me coming up with a couple of riffs and Zack adding to that. Or sometimes, Mike will sit behind the drums, I’ll play a riff, and we’ll work on that. I play drums as well, so sometimes I’ll play drums.

Chris: Everyone plays their part and then some. We all basically live together in the same house so guitars are constantly being played and riffs being written. You will always run across one of us humming something, tapping away on the walls or kitchen table or George singing a new hook for a song. The real magic happens in our studio once we compile all the ideas together.

What are your songs about?

George: I get an emotion, I get a feeling and I express it. I use words that express the way I’m feeling. I don’t know why, but most people think I write songs about girls (laughs). I write about everyday things that anybody can relate to.

Where did you get the great set of pipes?

George: I don’t know, man. I came from a musical family. Music is in my blood. I don’t know. I’m just an idiot savant, when it comes to music (laughs).

Mike: See, these guys used to play in Bulldoze, back in the day. Chris was the drummer, Zack was the guitarist and Puda was the bassist. So, you ask anyone about Bulldoze, they’ll tell what things happened. But, some things went down – wild stuff, rough shit and the lead singer went to prison for a little while. When he went, the band couldn’t really play. They got a new bass player and Puda started singing. I think that’s when Puda realized that he could sing.

What’s the deal with you and Merauder?

Mike: I play in Merauder. Jorge – that’s my nigga. We have a good time playing together. I filled in for Rag Men a little bit, which is what Jorge was doing…

Will you continue in both bands?

Mike: When I’m touring with Agents’ someone else will fill in with Merauder. If I’m home and Agents isn’t doing anything, I’ll play with Jorge.

Is there a conflict of interest?

George: Mike is a machine. There is no wasted time with Mike. He fills every second. I admire him. I don’t have the patience to do the shit he does. So, if there is down time with us, he’ll set something up with Merauder. If we’re busy, he’ll make sure is Merauder is taken care of while he’s with us.

If you were in a classic, Glam Metal band, which one would it be?

Chris: Ratt.

Rey: Motley Crue.

Which member would you be?

Rey: Nikki Sixx. He was just a fashionable, cool cat that kind of ran shit.

George: I’d be in Enuff Z Nuf (Laughs)

Mike: Poison (laughs). Just so that Puda and I could sing “Unskinny Bop.” (more laughter).

Tell me about the new CD

Zack: The title is about appreciating what’s around you. That’s where the lyrics are coming from. We have a lot of songs on there that deal with everyday struggles, the place that this Country is in, right now. It’s not real political, but there is a lot of shit going on right now and I think the album reflects that.

George: The world is a fucked up place, right now. There are a lot of hard reality lyrics on the album. You can put them with what you see on the news and what you see out on the streets.

Chris: It’s not political in a Republicans or Democrats sense, but it’s political in regards to the human way of life. Never mind the oil, never mind the gas. We’re hurting and shitting on people. In general, the state of the world is not where it should be. It’s on a steady decline to the end.

I realize you already explained me to your desire to mix styles as a band, but how did this translate to the recording process?

George: It worked out great. I have no patience. I have a really short attention span. I get bored doing only one thing. Why do the same thing? We wanted to try different things on the album.

Chris: Also, if you look around this room (gestures to all the rock posters on the wall) you’ll see there is everything. You’ve got Iron Maiden, Bad Brains,God Forbid, N.W.A. We don’t just listen to Hardcore. Are roots are Hardcore, we grew up in Hardcore, but I listen to regular music as well. Zack and Puda listen to a lot of Hip Hop. Our musical inspiration is all over the place. We wanted to get a little of that on this album.

Zack: We come from an era where there was all types of bands. We’d go to shows where there would be mixed bills where there’d be Metal bands playing with Hardcore bands. That’s what we grew up with. So, for us, it wouldn’t be fair to write a record that was only one-sided. We want to put all sorts of melody and emotion into our music, you know what I mean?

Mike: Playing Hardcore Metal is great – you know, playing angry shit and getting your frustrations out. But there’s so much more to life. There’s so much more to music. My excuse is I’m a Gemini, so I like melody shit and I like hard shit too.

Where did the soft song come from?

George: “Be My Savior” is actually about ten years old. Zack and I wrote that when we were in Train of Thought. We always had it on the back burner.

Is that song, as well as the poppy “Truth You Hide” an attempt to attract female mortals to the shows?

Mike: No. We’re handsome guys so we don’t have to resort to playing a soft song to get the ladies. All we have to do is flash a smile (more laughter). Going back to what I was saying about emotion, that song came out of certain emotion I was feeling at the time. I had a melody in my head. Zack wrote the riff. It worked out. We decided to do the song so that we could show another side of us. We wanted to show people we were capable of doing other things. We’re not a Hardcore band, we’re not a Metal or Rock band. We are Agents of Man and we do what we love to do. That’s how that song ended up on the record.

Tell me about the video

Chris: We shot a video for the song “Death of Me.” It was our first video shoot ever and I personally had a great time doing it. Everything went smooth thanks to Dale, Kim and all the staff of Raging Nation Films. The final product came out absolutely amazing thanks to all the editing done by Dave at My Good Eye.

And your touring plans?

Chris: We are going out July 13th – Aug.19th across the USA, with Sworn Enemy, Full Blown Chaos, Strength in Numbers, Scars of Tomorrow and Winter Solstice. Then September 22 – October 16, we are heading over to Europe as part of the Hell On Earth tour. We will be on the road with As I Lay Dying, Heaven Shall Burn, Evergreen Terrace, Neaera and End of Days. This will be the first time we head over to Europe. A lot of our friends have already been there and told us many stories so needless to say I am sure we will have a good time!

What’s the big dream or plan?

Rey: It would be to make this a full time lifestyle. I never wanted this to be a weekend warrior type of thing. I want this to be my living 110%. This band is who I am and where I belong, so why not do it 365 days a year?

Chris: Our dream is longevity. In the life of most bands, they have one to three records. For some bands it’s only one song. God bless those bands like AC/DC, Areosmith and Iron Maiden. They’re still writing good shit and going strong.

What’s the key to longevity?

Mike: Loving what you do. It’s what I was talking about in regards to Sworn Enemy. Do you love what you’re doing? I think part of it has to do with the people you’re around. All of us in this band have been good friends for a long time. We all love each other like a family. Nobody is going to get along 100% of the time. You’re gonna argue with people when you’re around them all the time. As long as you’re moving forward, you’ll be fine. You can’t have one nigga lookin’ up, one nigga lookin’ down. Everyone’s got to be lookin forward. As long as we can respect each other and get our fuckin’ frustrations out, that’s it.

George: Getting up on stage and doing what we do and lovin’ what we do is the main thing to me. You can go somewhere and there will be 500 people there and it’s cool. You can also play in a place to only five people and that’s cool too.

Chris: Zack, George and myself have been together almost 14 years doing the same thing. We all grew up with the same dream. I built houses for ten years. I work on cars, boats and bikes. I cook food. I do all these things just so we do this thing. I built our bus just so we could tour. This is the only thing I want to do. If I didn’t have this in my life, I might as well look forward to you killing me, cuz there would be no point for me being here.

There isn’t a point for you to be here, mortal and I DO plan on killing you!

Chris: If I could do this for the rest of my life and pay the bills I’d be happy. I don’t need the wealth and I don’t need the fame. I’m popular to the people I need to be popular to.

Why do some mortal bands survive trends?

Mike: Good music. That’s what it’s all about. You can poof your hair a certain way, or wear makeup, wear girl pants or baggy pants, but at the beginning and the end of the day, it’s about having good music.

George: Bands that are true to themselves have longevity and survive trends. I think when you’re true to yourselves and the public sees that, they gravitate toward you. You always see bands that have the one hit, but then their next record doesn’t do shit. When the label signed them, what they were doing was cool, but now it’s not. Bands like Slayer – they’re still doing what they did 10 – 15 years ago. Why? Because they were true to themselves.

Zack: All of us have been in the game of playing in bands since around ’94. You could go back and check any of the bands we’ve played in and see that we’ve always stayed true to our roots. We have a little bit of an opportunity with Century Media and the new record, so we’re gonna show everybody.

Mike: Lead by example. Don’t be worried by what other motherfuckers think. There always is going to be a critic. Nine times out of ten, people will tell you what to do, or what they think you should be doing, but they haven’t done shit themselves. Motherfuckers will tell you to go get a job, but they don’t like the one they have themselves. People will tell you how you should live, but they are miserable. You have to follow your heart and be happy with what you’re doing.

Chris: Life’s too short. Love what you got. Count your blessings.