POISON I.V. - Stab My Heart ! (Hard-Core/Punk - Interview with Phil)
- Please introduce yourself and let me know how it all began with the band ?
Hey I'm Phil, from Seaside Heights, NJ, drummer and cofounder of Poison I.V... Prior I was in a handful of punk bands growing up. My dad was an old school punk and saw all the legends in their prime play like The Damned, Misfits, Black Flag, DK, Ramones. So I found punk at an early age and I soon started going to local punks shows alone in 2003 and was hooked ever since. Around 2011 I sort of took a break from the scene working and traveling got in the way but I always had the urge to playing drums in a punk band. So I knew I needed to form a punk band to stay happy and stick to my roots..
Poison I.V., started from a Craigs List ad I posted in 2021 seeking musicians to form a punk band. A guitarist and bassist answered the ad and we started jamming and made a handful of songs. We were looking for a vocalist and had no luck trying two vocalists outs until we had this rad chick Raquel, come try out. She walked in the practice room stating that she was never in a band before. But even with that said she had confidence and she had lyrics and she was prepared. We started by playing one of our original songs for her and she without hesitation started shouting her heart out and with a mic in one hand and a crumpled paper she had her lyrics on in the other hand and from that moment I saw her had a natural stage presence topped off with a good vibe as a person.. Her vocalist style reminded me of Naked Aggression, Fast Times (NJ punk band), and Sin34 all in one. We were all very impressed.
Soon after Raquel left the try out, I immediately said that's our vocalist! Unfortunately the guitarist didn't feel the same way and he wanted to push for a heavier more hardcore vocalist and wanted to change the bands music to a more metal based hardcore sound. So at that moment I quit that band and made a new Craigs List ad seeking musicians for a band punk again and a couple weeks later I contacted Raquel, and asked her to form a punk with me which she wholeheartedly agreed to do. Within the week we started cofounding the band. We tried out a bassist named Joe who stuck around for the early stages of the band. We also found our current guitarist Steve from the moment all four of us entered the practice room we naturally gelled as a band and wrote all the songs we have on our demo within three practices. But before we could record any of our songs Joe our bassist quit the band because he lived to far away from where we practiced. We quickly tried out a few bassist with no luck until Steve, saw an ad a bassist named Angela, posted on Facebook looking to join a band. We tried her out and knew right away during her try out she was the perfect fit.. That is when Poison I.V. finally had a solidified line up.. Raquel - vox, Phil - drums, Steve - guitar, Angela - bass.
After two years of hard work Raquel, sadly decided to move away to another state and we decided to find a new vocalist after a couple of failed try outs we had our current vocalist Dorothie, contacted us. She too never was in a punk band before but had experience singing in cover bands. She came to try out prepared with most of the lyrics memorized and had a good vibe so we knew she was the right fit to be Poison I.V.'s new vocalist. And just recently in our beloved bassist Angela, had to sadly leave the band to go to college. But we got lucky and after a couple of try outs found our current bassist Joclyn. Our current 2024 line is Dorothie - vox, Phil - drums, Steve - guitar, Joclyn - bass.
- Describe your sound and explain why I should listen to YOUR band at all cost ?
Our sound came naturally we weren't really focusing on how we should sound. We just wanted to play punk music and make people dance and forget about everyday stress in life. When you come see us live or listen to our music. We want you to forget about your job, forget about your problems, fuck the politics and views of everyone else, ignore your self doubts. Be who you wanna be around us feel safe to express your weirdness around us. We play for the odd balls, the losers, the outcasts.. Thats the reason you should listen us and come to our shows! Fuck what everyone else is doing and just have fun !
- Lyrical and musical inspirations/influences ? How important are the lyrics for you ? Are there any specific messages or thoughts you try to develop and share through your lyrics ?
As for our lyrics our original vocalist Raquel, loved watching horror movies and writing poems. Her lyrics always had a touch of horror or messages of over coming tough relationships with toxic people.. Wearing whatever you want and expressing yourself. Dorothie's lyrics lean more towards overcoming unfortunate situations in life such as loosing a loved one and freeing yourself from bad vices you may have struggled with in your past. We focus on writing lyrics anyone can relate with. We dont wanna write about politics or anything that people are already stressing themselves out about.
- About your latest release ?
The latest things we are working on releasing is our LP featuring all the songs we recorded with our original vocalist Raquel, which is gonna drop sometime in 2025.
We are currently writing new material with our current vocalist Dorothie, and our new bassist Joclyn, and are planning on recording and releasing tracks in 2025. We're gonna be very busy next year with louds of releases!!
We currently have our 2022 Demo available on Spotify and Bandcamp we recorded in Staten Island, New York by a friend of Raquel in our practice room we rented.. Raquel, drew the zombie girl cover art for our Demo.
We have a new shirts coming out soon we're planning on setting up an online store to cater to our fans we have outside of the US..
- Future plans ?
Future plans we have for Poison I.V., is recording new material and possibly setting up small tour around the East Coast in the spring. We wanna play as many shows as we can in the years to come! We're gonna keep this band going for a long fucking time. We're not going anywhere anytime soon.
- Your most insane dream with the band would be ?
Most insane dream for this band would be simply to be picked up and go on tour with one of our favorite punk bands to many bands to name we'd love to tour with.
- Your BEST & WORST concert - as a band - and why ?
As for the worst concerts. We played a show in a small hot shed one summer in someone's back yard we were all over heated sweating and our original vocalist Raquel, blew her voices out at a show we played the night before and we had to cut our show short for that reason it just wasn't out best performance. but not terrible either..
Theres a venue Jimmy's Bar in Kearny, NJ that we all as a band dislike and find it really boring to play at and always feel like it wasn't a fun show after playing there because it just a dull bar with a blah crowd it just a boring place. So we feel we don't give a hundred percent when we play there..
- Next live-appearance(s) ?
Our next show is November 16 at Cheeks DIY in Forked River, NJ
- Some words on your local scene - bands you're friends with and you'd like to name ?
NJ's punk / hardcore / metal scene is alive and well! We have a lot of heavy hitter reigning from our state. We sometimes get shaded by NY and Philly but when bands come and play in NJ they see how hard we go we definitely have some of the hardest pits you'll ever experience in your life.. Bands we recommend looking up from NJ are our good friends Chemical X, Dead Blow Hammer, Regicide, and Tear Gas off the top. I have to give a huge Thanks to Mike Ramirez, bassist of Tear Gas. He got Poison I.V., our first show and his old band Ash Monday, was one of the first local hardcore bands I saw when I was just entering the scene and fast ward all these years later he's still playing music and booking shows and doing good things for the scene!
- Last word is yours..
I always tell bands to never skip playing in NJ, we'll be the most dedicated and appreciative fans you'll ever come across because so many punk/hardcore/metal fans in NJ fight every chance they get to book show and go to shows and keep the scene thriving!
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