Crippled Earn are a NYC based hardcore band that got on our radar in 2017 when they released their debut EP titled “Swine”. From there they always seemed to be on a show flyer playing as much as they could before words like pandemic and quarantine became everyday things we discussed in all aspects of our lives. Back in November they returned with new music with “Exhausting Existence”, a 4 song EP put out by WTF Records. In Effect caught up with Crippled Earn frontman Tyler Guida to get as much info as we could out of him about the new record and news about the band. Graphics by: Paul Turano.
Photo by: Tim Daley
IE: Where exactly are you right now and what would you usually be doing at this time if you weren’t answering these questions?
Tyler: Hey man. I am currently at home in the Bronx. I was working a side job in upstate NY and caught a nasty knee injury so, if I wasn’t answering these questions I’d be doing tons of nothing except hobbling around and taking twenty minutes to make the four foot journey from my bedroom to the bathroom. Good times always being had around here.
IE: For the uninitiated please give our readers a little background to the Crippled Earn story.
Tyler: The band formed because myself and Will our guitar player were both in between projects and were hanging out a lot and decided to mess with this idea of a heavy punk influenced hardcore project. With Will’s brother Gino originally on drums we wrote our first song “World Without Religion” pretty quickly which kind of provided a base for what kind of band it was going to be. We finished writing the “Swine” EP within our first few months as a band and hit the studio with Arik at Creep Recordings shortly after. We didn’t even have a set bass player when recording “Swine” so our friend Drew stepped in to take on the bass for that recording. Shortly after releasing our first track to the world we linked up with Morse Code Recordings to release the EP on 7” vinyl and began to play out. Jerry would soon after join us on guitar, Phil on bass (who’s now our drummer) and we wrote three additional songs that were released on “Swine Deluxe”, a collection basically of every song we had written at that point. As time went on we solidified our line up and began playing a lot of shows. We were cooking with gas and were slowly but surely developing the sound to become what in my opinion is supposed to be… and then… Covid. We wrote most of our latest release prior to the world shutting down but couldn’t do much with the material because of what was going on. So first chance we got we finished writing and recording “Exhausting Existence” and it was released via WTF records on November 19th, 2021 with the current lineup of myself on vocals , Will on guitar/vocals , Jerry on guitar, Leo on bass and Phil on the drums.
IE: Your new record “Exhausting Existence” contains 4 songs that I would definitely categorize as NYHC but… much like your previous EP, “Swine” there are a lot of harmonies and these get stuck in your head types of choruses. There is definitely a punk rock influence mixed in there too. Please tell us about these new songs and what kind of stuff you all listen to that gets you to this sound that comes out of your speakers.
Tyler: We absolutely pull heavy influence from punk rock bands and a million different places especially on the new EP. When writing we all have common ground but each of us do have things we pull from that the others don’t which I think fuels a cool sound for lead riffs, vocal patterns and over all structure within the songs. Bands I know we as a group can all agree on influence wise are bands like Leatherface, Dag Nasty, Hot Water Music, Good Riddance, Ignite, Blood For Blood and of course Sick Of It All. That’s a list I could write all day though you know?
CLICK BELOW FOR MULTIPLE WAYS TO STREAM/BUY "EXHAUSTING EXISTENCE"
IE: Can you talk about the “Exhausting Existence” title and meaning as well as the cover artwork and how they may or may not tie together?
Tyler: The title “Exhausting Existence” comes from living in a place like NYC. Although beautiful and loved by all of us, your days here are spent watching greed, violence, gluttony and the overall failure of humanity control us with a heavy hand. It’s exhausting and trying to, or even thinking anything will change for the better only brings on deeper feelings of anger and disappointment. The cover art I think says all of this without saying a word. The look on Lady Liberty’s face screams defeat as everything crumbles around her.
IE: The opening track “Never Gonna Change” starts off with an old movie soundbite about life in NYC… what movie is it from?
Tyler: That clip was grabbed off a documentary about the condition of the South Bronx in the 70’s and 80’s. Unfortunately I can’t locate the title at the moment because I had an entire folder of this one and tons of similar documentaries that have vanished into the deep, dark, computeral abyss.
IE: What is your favorite track off of the new record and what makes it a favorite?
Tyler: My personal favorite is “New Year New You” because I feel like it combines all elements of our current sound and covers all the bases of what we as a band are trying to achieve when writing.
CRIPPLED EARN w/ENZIGURI'S DAVEY HOOLIGAN (KNEELING) @ BROOKLYN BAZAAR 2018
PHOTO BY: STEVEN J. MESSINA
IE: You guys also made a music video for “New Year New You”. Can you talk about the making of this video?
Tyler: For the video we were lucky enough to link up with Kenneth Sousie, an extremely talented guy who’s done tons of great work including videos for our friends in Enziguri who’s vocalist Davey Hooligan is actually featured on the track “New Year New You”. The video was shot at and within the vicinity of Otter House Studios, an awesome recording and rehearsal studio in Queens. We used the sample that opens up the new EP on the track “Never Gonna Change” because I feel it captures the entire essence and mood of the new EP. The concept of everyone who holds the CD getting attacked is basically a poke at our luck as a band when it comes to timing and what not. We were lucky enough to snag some good friends to join us for the day including Doug From the New Jersey based hardcore band On Sight, Jay from NYHC band Moment Of Truth (also on WTF Records) Matt from Roseblood, Davey from Enziguri, and Logan from APE among many other good friends who showed up for us. The entire day was really fun. Just watching the concept come alive and watching Ken do his magic was a beautiful thing. Everyone had a good time, caught some laughs, bruises and bumps etc.
CLICK BELOW TO WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR "NEW YEAR, NEW YOU"
IE: “Exhausting Existence” was released by Dutch label WTF Records who are no strangers to putting out releases by NY bands. In addition to your new one WTF has also put out new releases by Going Postal, The Car Bomb Parade, and Point Blank. How were you introduced to Tim at WTF?
Tyler: We were lucky enough to have Jay from Moment Of Truth link us with Tim from WTF after I sent Jay the tracks. Jay is an amazing guy and vocalist and we owe him a lot for us being able to work with Tim and WTF Records. From there we had great communications via email with Tim and the whole process actually went very smooth which we are not used to at all. Always waiting for the next wrench to be thrown into the works.
IE: Can you tell us about the name Crippled Earn, its meaning, and who came up with it?
Tyler: I came up with name prior to us even writing any music which also helped set the tone for what the band was going to be about. It basically is an ode to the struggles of the middle and lower class, the blue collar squabble to survive while the elites gorge themselves and drink from over filled cups. Being a little fish in a big fucking pond .
CLICK BELOW TO STREAM CRIPPLED EARN'S 2017 DEBUT EP "SWINE"
IE: Your debut EP “Swine” was a really solid release and one that I could tell you guys were proud of when it came out. It is going to get some new life this year as well. Can you tell us more about that?
Tyler: We are remixing and remastering “Swine” and it will be re-released via Creep Records from Philly. We wanted to breathe some new life into the old material and have it hit a little harder. We ran low on time during the recording because I had blown out my voice and ran into a few issues with the writing that we worked out in the studio. We are all happy with the final product, Arik killed it, we just think giving it some TLC and juicing it up a little will do the release some unserved justice. We’ll have dates and more announcements about that soon.
IE: Besides your two EP’s that we have mentioned already Crippled Earn has a couple of other noteworthy songs that could possibly get lost in the shuffle with “Recovery Gone Wrong” and “Ten Steps Back” which are two of your better tracks. Can you talk about when these songs came out and was it up for consideration to put them on to the end of the new “Exhausting Existence” EP to give them more exposure?
Tyler: Yes, we recorded these two with our friend Mikhail at Back Room Studios in New Jersey. We had some down time and nothing planned so we wanted to get some new material out into the world. Personally for me “Recovery Gone Wrong“ means a lot lyrically and is also one of my favorite songs we’ve written. We have definitely considered revisiting it for a later release. The song “Ten Steps Back” was featured on the “Back To The NYHC Roots” compilation that Drew Stone and Pitchfork Hardware put together. I think we’ll leave that one where it is as it’s also available for streaming so if people haven’t already heard them they are both available on all streaming platforms.
CRIPPLED EARN @ "STOMP OUT ANIMAL ABUSE ROUND 4" IN LANOKA HARBOR, NJ APRIL 2021
PHOTO BY: TIM DALEY
IE: I hear you guys have studio time booked for March in Philadelphia. What do you guys have planned for that and the rest of 2022 so far?
Tyler: Yeah man. We are gonna hit the studio and hopefully drop a new song as well as a cover we’re considering doing. We’re still working that out as we are just about to get back in the saddle. We took a small break while Will’s other project Neckscars got a little busy doing an East Coast run and such which was honestly needed for all of us anyway and now we are all itching to get back to work. I personally can’t wait to see where the writing goes next as it continues to evolve.
IE: What kinds of occupations are all of you involved in when you are not playing music?
Tyler: We cover all the bases haha… from service industry, a teacher, some finance guy or some shit and two crusty construction workers. All over the map.
IE: That’s all I have for now, is there anything else you wanted to add before we wrap this up?
Tyler: I got nothing more other than to thank you for letting us do this interview and for always showing us love. Also encourage anyone who hasn’t to get out and check out the new record and videos and we’ll be announcing more shows soon and hope to see and meet everyone ASAP. Be safe and don’t let the bastards grind you down. One love.
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