Tell me how the band came into being?

Gary: Well, I wasn’t the original singer. The band has been together for a good five years now, and I’ve been in it for four of them. This other kid, Dom, was the singer before me and From The Pawn spawned from another band called Satyr, which had Joe, Joey, and Anthony in it. A few members left, KG joined and they became From The Pawn. I was in another band called Speechless At Gunpoint. They grew distant with Dom and things weren’t working out, so they asked me to fill in as a temp, which just slowly became permanent. Speechless’ started doing less and less, as FTP started doing more, so I started focusing more on FTP and we’ve been nonstop ever since.

Who were you trying to emulate musically when you began?

Gary: When the band first started, it was really influenced by Shai Hulud, Posion The Well, Love Is Red, Comeback Kid, etc. That’s where a lot of writing influence came from. I came from more of a heavier background, being influenced by Dead To Fall, Deadwater Drowning, Suffocation, Between The Buried And Me.. so of course the band got heavier as I joined, and having both sides of the hardcore scene in it really help shape the music we make today

How has the music evolved since that time?

Gary: It’s matured a lot, without a doubt.  Musically, lyrically, and the message we choose to send has all changed for the better since the band started. But if you listen to old recordings, you can tell from the second it starts that its FTP. We’ve always kept a certain style that’s very unique and separates us from sounding like every other band out there and it’s what I like most about the band. I’m really happy with the music we make and everyone else seems to enjoy it as well, so we’re doing something right (laughs).

What’s the scene like on the Island?

Gary: Unfortunately it’s nothing like what it used to be. There’s nothing but assholes out here. I, as well as the rest of us, take a lot of pride in where we live, and if you take a look at the inside of our CD, we pretty much thank all of Long Island individually. There’s a lot of amazing people who are really close friends, that come to our shows, scream their faces off at me and dance like a maniac. But most of the kids out here think they’re the hottest shit ever with an ego like Kanye West and think they can do as they please. And that attitude causes constant fights, venues not booking shows anymore. Almost like they’re trying to kill whatever scene is left. Most of the shows we get booked to play, doesn’t even make it to our set, and it makes me not wanna play here anymore. It’s really disappointing. Hopefully, something changes, but it needs a drastic change and it doesn’t look like it’s happening any time soon.

Why aren’t you signed? You seem like you should be.

Gary: (Laughs) That’s probably the question I get asked more than anything. I’m not really sure why we aren’t signed. A lot of things happened at really bad times and we’ve missed out on some opportunities and I guess that’s why we haven’t yet. We’ve also been waiting for the right chance. We don’t wanna sign ourselves away just for the sake of being on a label. So you could say it’s half cause we’re being smart and half cause we were being dumb. Hopefully something comes along our way soon. Patience and high hopes can take you a long way.

Being you aren’t on a label, How do you afford to book and tour?

Gary: We’ve done a lot of weekend/week tours around the tri state area, as it’s pretty easy to budget something like that. The tour we were just recently on, we were just saving and saving and saving for. We were out for a month and everyone partied and spent a lot of money and actually had to cut our tour early cause we ran out of money in Texas. The tour was also booked half assed so some shows we didn’t even get money for. But we still managed and got through everything and it was amazing. We’ve been home for a little over a month now and everyone’s just been doing the same thing -trying to get as much money as we can. Plus, this upcoming tour was booked by our friend Michelle and she’s been doing a wonderful job, so we’ll actually have more money and a lot more shows so I see it working out very well.

Why did KG leave the group?

Gary: He’s not completely out yet. We’re still playing shows around the area with him and practicing at his house, but he’s got some things going on that’s putting him in a position where he needs to get a real job and live on his own. He still has a lot of heart for the music and we’re all still good friends. There was basically nothing us nor him could do about the situation, so we just have to move on. You’ll still see his face around.

Tell me about your newest member

Gary: Our long time friend Tim Dimartino is taking his place. He’s an amazing kid and really we couldn’t have found a better replacement. He’s in another band with our drummer Joe, called Ready To Go, and they write together really well so everyone’s excited on working with him and touring together

Does he have a hairy buttocks, like the rest of you?

Gary: I’m not too sure. I haven’t seen his ass yet. But I’m going to assume it is because I’m now the only one in the band who isn’t 100% Italian. There’s hairy man ass everywhere you turn in that van, you would be in your glory Maris.

I agree! That’s why I’m thinking of touring with you!

Gary: You are? Great! But you might not get what you want. We all love women.

Please explain to me what it is about a vagina that is so appealing.

Gary: Pretty much everything about it I enjoy. It’s like a hole of warm Jello that’s attached to a chick. It looks nice, feels nice, tastes nice (for the most part, but if it doesn’t you simply just don’t taste it), plus sticking your dick in it is the best part!

Doesn’t a female mortal on her menstrual cycle scare you away from having sex with her?

Gary: Absolutely. I used to be petrified of bleeding vagina and I’m pretty sure I still am.

You should be!

Gary: It’s just fucking gross, the thought of bleeding vagina gives me nightmares.

Me too!

Gary: The only time I’ve ever had sex with a girl while she was on her period was because she was my girlfriend and I was in love with her. And even that was still cutting it really close. It took  A LOT of convincing. how do YOU feel about it?

Well, let’s be honest here. Vaginas look like hatchet wounds. I think that says everything right there. And what about female mortals that ejaculate? Medical science still hasn’t figured out that one. No one knows what it is squirting out. It might be Alien blood or something lethal.

Gary: Well for me, hands down that has to be one of the hottest things a girl could possibly do. I don’t really know what it is about it, cause golden showers gross me out. I guess it’s cause I look at it as a girl busting a nut. You know, being a guy and knowing how much comes out when you drop a load, then making a girl cum and she’s shooting a stream out of her cooch that’s hitting the tv on the other side of the room………..its a fucking godsend

I’m getting nauseated. Tell me the details behind creating “Ambitions Of Man”

Gary: Mannnn that album was a fucking pain to record (laughs). We recorded with an awesome dude, Dean at Atomic Studios, over in Brooklyn. There would be sessions that started at nine or ten AM and we wouldn’t leave until one AM, the next morning. But Dean was a super cool guy to work with, knew exactly what kind of sound we were looking for, and that helped so much. The album was finished a year before it came out. We had just spent so much on it, and then when the time came to put it out we ran into so many financial issues and downfalls that it took forever to get pressed. KG did a lot of the guitars and bass tracks for the record, so it was more stressful on him than anyone. The rest of just would just smoke weed and watch tv ’til we did what we had to do. Vocals took only a weekend, but it was probably the longest weekend of my life.

To your ears, did it come out the way you wanted?

Gary: Me as well as everyone else were really happy with how it came out. It was our first professional recording and Dean made everything sound so full and clear, we were amazed. Listening to the album I hear little things that I would have liked to change and thought of cooler shit to do with some parts, but i guess everyone does that after their album is out. Overall it came out exactly how we thought and quality-wise it was more than I could ask for.

How did you come to work with Frankie Bear of Emmure?

Gary: Frankie and I go wayyy back, before Emmure was even created. We were in a band together when we were 16, 17 years old, called Inner Distance. I played drums and we kicked out our original singer. Frankie found us online and was talking to our guitarist about joining. And honestly, we had no idea what he sounded like. He took the train out to Long Island and we walked from there right into the studio to redo the songs we had. He was a fucking BEAST. Being that young and hearing such a voice was on a whole other level. I’m pretty sure we called him “Frankie the face eater” or some shit like that. But yeah, a year maybe after that he hit me up and showed me a new band he was fuckin’ with which was Emmure. I absolutely fell in love with it from the second I heard it and actually got them their first show, funny enough, with Speechless. At Gunpoint, and From The Pawn before I was in it. So me and him have been really close friends for a long time now. I had to get him on the album. He was really the only one I cared about doing a song with. Then he asked me to be on their new CD, and both times were so much fun. it goes beyond the music with him and the rest of the band. They’re all amazing guys and I’m really glad I can work with them musically.

Are you jealous that Emmure is doing so well and you haven’t been asked to join?

Gary: (Laughs) Not at all. I’ve never seen a band work as hard as they have to get where they are now. I also roadie for them when I’m not out with FTP, and that’s how I save for our tours. I just got done doing Hatebreed tour with them. I’m glad to have such huge opportunities like that to get our name out. Plus, no one can do Frankie better than him, so I’m not too jealous.

If you could have had anyone else in the world guest on one song on your CD, who would it be and on what song?

Gary: I’d love to do a song with Nate Johnson of Deadwater Drowning/Through The Eyes Of The Dead. He’s my favorite vocalist. Having him on any track would be life changing (Laughs). Or maybe Jay-Z  on an Ambitions Of Man Hardcore/Hip Hop remix. Actually I’d prefer that one a little more… or maybe your remake of Ambitions’. How does that go again?

You mean Ambitions of Fags? (sings) One guy, one dick, one ass!

(Much laughter)

Weren’t you on Fuse TV dating show or something recently?

Gary: Ohhhhh yes. The show is called “You Rock, Lets Roll.” It has to be one of the worst dating shows I’ve ever seen, but it was so much fun to do. I basically did it for exposure for FTP and the hopes on getting some ass. I performed Ambitions Of Man on the air, made a fool out of myself answering dumb love questions, tried to bang the hostess, made 200 bucks and got floor seats to a Kanye West concert, which was amazing, so it actually turned out to be awesome (laughs). They have clips of it on the Fuse website, and I have the full episode on dvd, which I’m trying to get on Youtube sometime soon so watch out for it.