Ready to Fight

Negative Approach's career, like its nine-second manic meltdown "Pressure," hit hard and fast and ended before it really had the chance to begin. The seminal Detroit-bred hardcore band, led by John Brannon, who went on to form Laughing Hyenas and Easy Action, released only a fistful of songs before disbanding during its Tied Down tour in 1983, just one week before a planned three-city run of Texas with the Big Boys. Like Scratch Acid, NA recently reformed for Touch & Go Records' 25th Anniversary, spurring a series of one-off gigs. The Chronicle tracked down Brannon to see what it's like tapping into his 19-year-old self.

Austin Chronicle: Who originally brought the idea of a Negative Approach reunion?

John Brannon: Well, Touch & Go had their 25th Anniversary thing in Chicago, and [T&G owner] Corey Rusk called me up. It had never really entered my mind to put Negative Approach back together, but he asked me. Touch & Go really put us on the map when we were getting started, so I got together with O.P. [Moore], the drummer, and he wanted to do it so we just got to talking. We kind of ran into some problems with the original guys; I hadn't really been in touch with them since the band ended. So we ended up getting a couple of other guys -- my guitar player from Easy Action [Harold Richardson] and Ron [Sakowski] who was in Easy Action and Laughing Hyenas. We told Corey, 'Well, me and O.P. can get together and do this with a couple of our friends,' and he was down for that. We went ahead and did it and it turned out great. We were surprised. It had been 25 years since we did a lot of those songs on stage, so it was kind of overwhelming.

AC: What were those problems with Rob and Graham McCulloch?

JB: After the band broke up, I really didn't keep in touch with those guys. We all just went our separate ways, but I'd always been in touch with O.P. I remained friends with him. I got on the phone with Rob, hadn't really talked to him in years, and by the second phone call he was calling me a fucking asshole. So, that was just not going to work.

AC: Are there any plans to record new material?

JB: No, not really. The whole thing really just came together for Touch & Go. It was just going to be a one-off, but then a few things popped up because of that -- the Texas show, Thurston Moore called us up and he's putting together that All Tomorrow's Parties gig in England -- so we're going to be playing a couple of shows over there with the Stooges and the MC5. That was something I couldn't pass up. It's like a dream come true. Play with my heroes and just go to fucking England.

AC: Did the recent passing of Larissa Strickland from Laughing Hyenas influence your decision to reunite NA?

JB: Actually, we did that before I found out. I found out about that a couple of weeks ago. That was a terrible thing. I'm still thinking about it everyday. That was a pretty bad blow to everybody.

AC: I'm sorry to hear that.

JB: It's just a sad subject. I'm still broken up about it. That girl was such a big part of my life and actually she had a lot to do with Negative Approach. She booked us. She helped write "Lead Song" on the 7". She was a big influence on Negative Approach and obviously my work with her in the Hyenas. Larissa was definitely there from the start.

AC: It's pretty safe to say that Negative Approach never got the credit it deserves during its time. Do you hope this reunion will rectify a part of that?

JB: We kind of burned out before hardcore really took off. We only put out a few records and it was over. The recognition is there, and it's pretty overwhelming the more and more bands I find out that we influenced. It's not like we're really seeking the recognition. I'm not saying we started anything, but we were one of the first playing that style. The recognition is flattering for what it was.

AC: Do you find it difficult to tap into the intensity and emotion of Negative Approach now that you're pretty far removed from that time?

JB: Back in the day, we didn't know what the fuck we were doing, only that we wanted to do it. There's still a lot I can relate to. Our whole thing was just about standing up for yourself and self-expression, not getting sucked into all the bullshit, and you can apply that to how you live your life today. I guess I'm still pissed off.

AC: What's a little known story about NA?

JB: When we started it was just so exciting to get out there. This was before the Internet and MTV and all of that shit. It really was an underground thing. People knew about us from fanzines and stuff like that, which is not the way it is now. It was just a really special feeling that we could travel to other cities and they knew who we were and had our records. At that time, everything was just so fresh and exciting, it wasn't all burnt out. It was totally underground. Everything was new wave and shit. We were just happy to get out there and show people what we could do and where we were coming from. We really didn't do a whole lot of tours. We basically just did weekend tours on the East coast 'cause the guys in the band were like 15, 16. I was the old man at 19. It was difficult to tour, but we always had a good time. We played a lot in D.C., Boston, New York, and Philly. We never really made it out West; we broke up before that. Only a handful of people saw the shows, and I guess they still talk about it today. A lot of kids saw us and went on to form bands and stuff, and that was really cool.

AC: What's next for Easy Action?

JB: We've got about half of the new record written, so we need to get our asses in the basement and get the rest of that together. I'm doing that full-time now. Everything's going really well. I don't have to worry about any personalities; everybody in the band is friends. We just want to keep the ball rolling. We're really too far into this to do anything else. This is what we do. We rock 'n' roll.

AC: You once said that Negative Approach is a lifestyle. What does that lifestyle entail?

JB: I've got to think about five lifetimes ago. I don't remember saying that. I probably did. The whole thing with NA was just not worrying about what was the norm. I wrote a lot of the lyrics when I was young, so a lot of that shit was my attitude towards people I went to school with, ex-girlfriends, whatever. We were young and we were pissed off. We wanted to do something and have our say and we wanted it to be our way. We didn't want people telling us what to do. We always had people saying, 'You can't do this, you can't do that.' And we're like, 'Fuck you, we're gonna do this shit,' and we did it. Look at where we are today. It's finally accepted.

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Negative Approach play Fun Fun Fun Fest at Waterloo Park Friday, December 1. Visit www.funfunfunfest.com.