Judge (band)

History

Their first release was a 7" EP on Porcell's label Schism (which he ran along with Side By Side/Gorilla Biscuits guitar player Alex Brown) entitled New York Crew. The record featured 5 songs, one of which was a cover of "Warriors" by the British oi!/punk band Blitz. On this recording, the band was merely a two-piece, featuring Porcelly on bass and guitar, and Ferraro on vocals and drums. But with the addition of bass-player Jimmy Yu (of Mike's former band Death Before Dishonor, which eventually evolved into Supertouch) and drummer "Lukey" Luke Abbey (Warzone/Gorilla Biscuits), they got together a fully functional live line-up.

The band received lots of criticism due to their militant Straight Edge lyrics, especially from fanzines like San Francisco's Maximum Rock'N'Roll. The militant lyrics were a conscious move on the band's part, as they were sick of seeing bands like Youth Of Today, who in reality had a very positive message, get slagged for being too militant. So they decided to give the nay-sayers exactly what they wanted – the most militant Straight Edge band imaginable. Mike Ferraro has later on admitted that provocation was an important aim for the band. In his free time, Mike Ferraro now raises chickens on a family farm in West Virginia.

Judge was not just heavy in message, the music had very metal-influenced riffing, but remained close to its hardcore roots, without going all out metal, such as bands like Agnostic Front and DRI.

With a new line-up of Sammy Siegler (Side By Side/Youth Of Today/Project X etc.) on drums and Matt Pincus on bass, the band proceeded to record their full-length LP Bringin' It Down for Revelation Records at Chung King Studios in New York City. The recording was finished, but the band were so unhappy with the result that they decided to scrap it and re-record it at Normandy Sound in Rhode Island, where The Cro-Mags had recorded their Best Wishes album. Revelation did however put out a limited pressing of the original recording, fittingly titled Chung King Can Suck It (LP). It was given to people who had pre-ordered the record, and with only 110 copies pressed (all on white vinyl), it is one of the most sought-after hardcore records in existence, going for as much as $6,600 USD on online auction sites such as eBay. Eventually, Bringin' It Down was released in 1989. Judge continued touring up until 1991, and even released another 7" EP, There Will Be Quiet, featuring "The Storm" and "Forget This Time" (the CD-version also contains a cover-version of "When the Levee Breaks", originally by Led Zeppelin).

In May 2013 Judge have reunited and played two sold out shows in NYC. In 2014 and 2015 the band have continued to play shows in United States as well as in South America and Europe.

Careers after Judge

John Porcelly went on to tour and record with Hare Krishna hardcore band Shelter (featuring Ray Cappo of Youth Of Today, as well as a revolving line-up of more and less well-known hardcore musicians, including Tom Capone of Bold and Quicksand, and Vic DiCara of Beyond, Inside Out, and 108). Porcelly later started the bands Never Surrender and Last of the Famous, and ran a record label called Fight Fire With Fire and the website TrueTillDeath.com, but all these projects seem to be either scrapped or inactive. He played with the reunited Bold in 2005–06, and a book chronicling all issues of his fanzine Schism was also released in late 2005.

Mike Ferraro (musician) (not to be confused with television and film maker Mike Judge) formed the band Mike Judge & Old Smoke with Judge roadie Todd Schwartz, a band playing Neil Young-inspired acoustic as well as guitar driven music. They released a 12" "Sights on Revelation Records in 1993.

Sammy Siegler played in several late 80's/early 90's hardcore bands, either regularly or as a replacement. In the mid-late 90's he recorded and toured with the band CIV, featuring Anthony Civarelli and Arthur Smilios of Gorilla Biscuits. He has also appeared in Shelter, and major label rock band Rival Schools, featuring Walter Schreifels (also of Gorilla Biscuits, as well as Quicksand and several other bands) He recorded Glassjaw first full-length . In 2005 he joined Limp Bizkit as temporary replacement for drummer John Otto.

Matt Pincus currently runs the NYC-based record label Some Records, which has released records from bands like Hot Water Music, Errortype 11 and Beyond.

Jimmy Yu became a Chan/Zen Buddhist monk in 1991 under the name Guogu, and now teaches Buddhism and meditation under the direction of Chan/Zen Master Sheng Yen. Yu is currently an Assistant Professor of Religion at Florida State University. Yu received his Ph.D. from Princeton University's Department of Religion in 2008. Yu teaches courses in East Asian religious traditions, specializing in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism and late imperial Chinese cultural history. His research interests include the cultural history of the body, Buddhist monasticism, Chan/Zen Buddhism, and popular religions within the broader context of fifteenth to seventeenth centuries China. Here is a 2008 Double Cross Hardcore fanzine interview with Jimmy Yu in which he talks about growing up in the hardcore scene.

Official releases

Bootlegs

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