Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
On Monday the 1:st of December I got a chance to interview Roger Miret, the legendary frontman of Agnostic Front for Chaoszine. The pioneers of New York Hardcore have just released a brand new album, “Echoes In Eternity”. Chaoszine managed to contact him from his home in Arizona. Let’s get to learn what is on his mind by the end of the year 2025.
Hi Roger! Welcome to our interview for Chaoszine. How are you, brother?
Roger: “Hi Mikko, thank you! Well actually there was an emergency in the house (just a moment ago) with the water pipeline, but got it fixed and managed to get here.”
How has the year 2025 treated you and Agnostic Front?
Roger: “It’s been great, it’s been busy. We’ve been on tour… on tour a lot and we haven’t stopped. On Wednesday I’ll leave for the east-coast tour, which will start on Thursday, December 4:th. And in February we’ll be touring Europe. And we’ll just continue. We have a new album out, “Echoes in Eternity” and now we’re supporting it”
Yes, I actually did a review on the album and gave it very high rating. Not pleasing you or anything, but in my humble opinion, it’s one of my all time favourite Agnostic Front -albums, a very strong one.
Roger: “Thank you so much, Mikko, I appreciate that.”
How did the production process of the album differ from production of the previous ones you’ve done?
Roger: “Well, actually it differed quite a lot. We brought in our old friend, Mike Dijan, who works as our tour manager here in U.S. He is always with us, anyway. He is kind of a sixth band member. So, Mike produced the album. And he did just amazing production work from the writing process all the way to the studio process and all the way to the video process. He was very passionate about his contributions on writing, contributions with producing and basically everything. He added him as an extra member of the band. It made a big difference, because he knows us well. He eventually tours with us all the time. You know, he knows how to work (with) us, how to get the best performances out of us. He knows… you know, it’s a different edge, a different angle coming in and we had good time doing this.”
Was this the very first time you worked with Dijan in the studio?
Roger: “With him, yes. We have worked with different producers in the past. But it’s always in the studio that they just sit there, turn knobs and suggest something. But it was very different this time… this was from the writing process on. He was in the rehearsal space with the guitar playing with us. You know what I mean? It was a very different thing this time.”
And it has happened quite a lot since ww had a chat the last time in 2019. Back then you got “Get Loud” -album out. Just an year after that we faced covid and unfortunately you got cancer soon after that, which must have been such a struggle for you. How have these years given you new perspective as an artist?
Roger: “Well, I mean Covid just took two years off from everyone’s life. Those years just disappeared, so they really mean nothing to anybody. You know what I mean? It’s just like you have no life. And having cancer on top of all that, it was mentally very challenging to me. And I got some ideas for the lyrics… as you’ve heard ‘Echoes In Eternity’, it all was useful for the writing process for that reasons. But you know, going through hardships has strenghten me to get through this recording session and to make a solid, a really strong record.”
Would you give some examples, which songs and texts on your new album are particularily influenced by the events of that period of time?
Roger: “There’s a good of at least four or five (songs) that are heavily influenced by all that stuff. “I Can’t Win” is one. It’s not that I haven’t there before. The song is about me facing these times again. I’m talking to myself and preaching to myself that I could, I can get through this. That song varies in a strong straight simple way and explains everything I just told you.”
And as on “Get Loud” the lyrics were somewhat based on your early life and stories from your biography, “Grit, Guts and Glory” that was published the same time (2018), it seems like Agnostic Front has turned a whole new page with “Echoes in Eternity” what comes to lyrical side. Do you agree with me on this?
Roger: “Yes, I agree with you. We got thru the pandemic and then I got the cancer. Those were life-changing-moments. And incredibly a new chapter just about in everybody’s life. And there’s actually one song that is very much related to my biography which you mentioned. It’s called “Shots Fired“. That song especially has a lot to do with my life story and biography.”
On your new album you guys also did a brilliant collaborative song, ” Matter of Life & Death” with Darryl “DMC’ McDonald from legendary old school rap group, RUN DMC. How did you get the idea of him to feature on the track?
Roger: “Actually, to be honest with you, it was Darryl’s idea, but not for this actual song. Darryl really digged the (documentary) film “The Godfathers of Hardcore.” He loved… He just loved the film! He said to people ‘Hey man, you know we live in parallel lives, and Agnostic Front is doing hardcore and punk, and we make hip hop, but we come from the same streets of New York City. Same, parallel lives… It’s so true! We got a mutual friend who contacted us by sending messages back and forth… and as we finally got to speak, he said he’s got a song and that “I wanna collaborate, I wanna do a song (with Agnostic Front)!”. And Darryl has always been a rocker, He loves rock, always has. The collaboration (RUN DMC with Aerosmith), “Walk This Way” is humungous! I said to him ‘Listen, we’ve been doing a lot of tours and finishing up those right now and then we’re gonna do a new album. Then we can do something.”
He (Darryl) said: ‘OK! OK!’ Then (later) he would come to our shows and ask ‘When can we do that song… or whatever?’ I said to him ‘Listen, as soon as we get to finish with the touring we’ll start writing the new album. But the original (demo) version of the song (“Matter of Life and Death“) was very different compared to the album version, as I was singing both the verses. Mike suggested that if we just scrap verse #2, move that verse as verse #1 and leave verse #2 open and let Darryl do that. I think it was cated for him and that he would love to do it.
So we sent the song to our amigo, and he said ‘Wow! I love this song’. And he did everything freestyle, his style, his everything. I just sent him the basic track of the song, he just came into the studio and knocked it out. It was two takes. The first take was great but he said he wanted to do another one. And he just sung the back-ups (vocals) and he was so excited. The he goes ‘When we’re gonna do a video!?’. So I said, if you want to do a video, we’re gonna do a video! And the next thing he asked ‘When we’re gonna play the song live?’ So on December 6:th on Vinnie (Stigma)’s birthday at Irving Plaza, NYC, we’re gonna play the song live for the forst time with Darryl.”
And the last time a collaboration like that was “Judgement Day” many years ago, but this one is a bit different still. We brought Darryl to our world and it is still very Agnostic Front. And it’s of his kind, very same style, but it’s still different… which is unique!
Definitely! And there’s also plenty of musical variation in rhythmics and versility inside and between the songs on your new album. It’s not that straight-forward-street-punk-album in my opinion. Have you also sensed that you may have bought some more new vibes and flavours to your music than before?
Roger: “You’re absolutely right! I think “Echoes In Eternity” has got a little bit of elements from every album in our discography. And it definitely has got something new and something fresh to it. Right, at the same time there’s something old but there’s something new and something fresh about it. Which is fantastic, because Agnostic Front has always been leaders, not followers. We just love what we do. It is very much related to our album “One Voice”, we think as we get back… back then (in time).
There’s a lot of leads and stuff but it wasn’t planned. In the studio we were like “This is what we’re writing, man!” “This just sounds great and (spontaniously) we just kept on doing what ever felt right for the song.We just kept building and building and building as long as everything felt natural. We said this is what we do, this is what we’re putting out, and everything fell in place, you know… Again, something fresh, something new with a little bit if twist, you know… and relevant! – Most importantly.”
How did you guys work as a team when recording the album?
Roger: “You know, the recording just came together. It was just us in the room. These days we all live in different states, different parts of the country (U.S.), so the only times we all are collectively together apart from touring is when we’re writing the songs. Meanwhile, when I’m not – Because when I’m here (in my home) – those guys keep on working and writing in the rehearsal studio. And they keep sending me the songs they are working with. Even in the recording process, (this time) we didn’t do it all together like we would normally do. They did all the basic recordings in studio in the New York City, and Mike flew over here to my place in Arizona with basic recordings.
So we did all the vocals here in Arizona in the studio. We spent here three or four days or even more. Then he flew back to New York and put all the vocals in the session. And then they did all the backing vocals in New York and when everything was done, we gave all the sessions to Chris “Zeuss” Harris to mix it. So the album was made in three different studios instead of supposedly we’d go in one place and do it. I think it was cool that way because it was easier for everybody, I guess, as well it was easier for Darryl who showed up in studio in Long Island, NYC and did the song, you know.”
“We can’t be doing the same records over and over again. Well, you could, and some bands have made their whole life and coureer that. I mean, they are just putting the same record out over and over again. I just like to grow. Musically I’m influenced by a lot of bands. Especially on the road a lot of these young bands that are influenced by us want to come and hear the stories and they love us, but at the same time, they’re influencing us as we watch them play and see what they’re doing and how the reaction from the audience is to their music. This is all a ‘give-and-take-give-and-take’ and because of that attitude we’re very relevant, we know what’s going on. Musically and lyrically too, as we travel all over the World, see things on a personal level through out own eyes, you know.”
Would you like to name some of those young bands that you guys were inspired by on the road?
Roger: “My brain is a… (hazy) Just to name a few. There’s loads of them… I mean… I’ll be naming some bands we’re going out with on tour. For example Raw Brigade and Violent Way. Brilliant bands, I Love these guys. Bands are killing and great like Turnstile. Speed is a great of newer bands. And there’s still lot of older bands that are still doing stuff. Knocked Loose also… There’s good stuff going out of hardcore these days.
You know, a lot of it is a very different to what Agnostic Front does musically. Lyrically it’s more similar, if you wanna pick out stuff… you know what I mean… Because we all want to talk about injustices and overcoming injustices and stuff like that… oppression. It’s very meaningful for the people. It hits in the heart, you know… Even if musically it’s very different, that’s fine too, you know! Everything shouldn’t sound the same even though we are singing about the same stuff! We need to challenge ourselves. We need to understand other people. We don’t need to think the same or be the same or dress the same! We’re not robots!”
Well that’s the core idea of punk. Isn’t it?
Roger: “Yeah!!”
Well on the other hand, there’s also loads of bands copycatting New York Hardcore classics that follow the same NYHC etiquette in everything they do. How do you as a ‘NYHC-OG’ relate to this kind of superficial ‘retro-hardcore’ -phenomenon that has spread all over the Globe by 2025?
Roger: “That’s a problem. The thing is to be an influence. Respecting your roots and respecting your influence. Lot of them may sound like these (original NYHC-) bands. If that’s unintentional and if that’s what you love, that’s what you play like. But you have to find some individuality and make it yours, you know what I mean. And there’s plenty of bands now that are influenced by NYHC-bands wherever they are, that’s the style they play, which is perfectly OK, perfectly fine.
That’s what they love, that’s their passion. As long as they stay genuine to their fans and genuine to people with them. Don’t pretend something you are not. Yes, if you love NYHC, do it if you love it, perfect. But you don’t need to go any further than that… kind of just make it yours!” Do you go buy a new car? You change the tires and parts but it’s still a car! You know.. when you get influenced, you get influenced…”
Sure! And of course, New York Hardcore as a local alternative music scene has turned into a worldwide phenomena nowadays. There’s plenty of bands coming from your City that have given hope and a will to live to countless of hopeless kids all over the World. But how do you see the local hardcore scene in New York in 2025. Is it still as vivid as it was back in the early days of the scene?
Roger: “To be honest with you, Mikko, I haven’t lived there (in New York City) for 20 years now. So to make a genuine opinion on that.. Ehhh!! – I really can’t do that. There’s a lot of New York Hardcore –bands out there obviously. There’s new ones coming all the time, but I’m not there to witness or see the stuff. So I don’t feel like I’ve got a… let’s say.. a direct say on anything else but that it (NYHC-scene) is going on. Which is great, the torch is still passed from band to band to band. They’re still doing what they love, they’re influenced by New York Hardcore and still representing us on the map, you know…”
Agnostic Front has been around for 45 years now. Has the chemistry changed along the decades and are you still doing it all for the same reasons like when you started the band 45 years ago or has it all changed somehow?
Roger: “You know, I think it’s the same principle. Especially me and Vinnie. We have dedicated our lives for this band, and our attitude has never changed. We’re genuine, we love what we do, man. Mike Gallo (bass player) has been in the band for 25 years and Craig (Silverman, guitarist) has got 10 years with us, you know. Danny (Lamagna, drummer) is newer, and with him being newer, he has already been six years in (the band) almost, going on seven.
But yeah! Things are different now than in ’80 or ’81…. very, very different, but we haven’t changed much. We just got wiser. We just don’t do things the same we did back in ’81 or ’82. There’s too much cameras out there watching us. We cannot throw garbage cans through the windows of McDonalds anymore without getting caught. That was fun back in ’82, ’83, to smash it in, but you have to find a different way to upset the system, you know!”
So you do it all in a more mature way, or?
Roger: “Yeah. You just take a toothpick and put glue on it and put in a keyhole and bsck it up a little bit to block the entry way.” Above all, we’re just older and wiser, but the passion and love in what we do is still there, and when we hit the stage, we’re so connected. We love what we do.”
So you will start your European Tour in February. This time you will come over to play mostly in the Middle and Southern Europe and United Kingdom. When can Agnostic Front -fans expect you guys to come over to play in Finland and Scandinavia for the next time?
Roger: “I hope so, you know, there’s a tour that has been listed already, I’m not quite sure how close to you we will go to play this time. At least we’ll be playing close the northern border of Germany. Once in a while we get there (in the north to play). But I got to know that “Echoes In Eternity” actually charted in Sweden on Top-100 album list, which is awesome. That’s the very first time in Sweden for Agnostic Front! It is actually really cool to see something like that happen. It felt really good, you know. Hopefully people will still pick it (“Echoes in Eternity”) up and hopefully that way we’ll be there (in the north Europe) doing some touring on the festival season. We’re gonna be out there in Europe twice in 2026. Our summer tour is different. ‘Cos we need to break it up. We cannot do it in one piece. So maybe we will be there playing to you during the next summer!”
There’s actually a couple of brilliant metal and punk festivals in Finland, some new ones too, so we put thumbs for you guys to be able to come over to play here during your summer tour. You are warmly welcome. Do you guys have some other plans for the future apart from touring?
Roger: You know, as we got the album out, our future is pretty much there presenting it to the World as best as we can, as most as we can. So we’re gonna be very active. And we like to. We wanna be very active. We’re proud of this record. We want to play these songs to the people. We’re excited to go out and play to our friends and family worldwide, and we’re excited to meet new friends and family worldwide, you know. So that’s the most exciting thing. But we never .. like… plan for this, plan for that. It’s… things just happen, you know. Who knows what life’s gonna give us in the next three or four years. But we’re here to enjoy. We’re always gonna be here as long as there’s a demand for Agnostic Front. It’s great that me, Vinnie and rest of the guys are still enjoying what we do. And there’s gonna be time when we can’t do something. That’ll be when ever it is, but I tell you, that Agnostic Front will echo in eternity.”
Please, send your best wishes for Agnostic Front -fans and Chaoszine followers
Roger: “You know, I’m grateful for many years of support. Thank you for being with us today, tomorrow, forever. We really are grateful. Because you know, if it wasn’t for you, we ain’t shit, and I mean it, you know. You guys are the driving force. Our energy comes from what you provide to us. You fuel us, we bring the fire. And it’s always been that way. We’re passionate, we love what we do and we’re so grateful that people connect with us and to be here, to be around for forty five years that’s of rare oddities like… and it makes me think how good has life been to us. And that means a lot to us, you know.”
Thank you Roger for your precious time on behalf of Chaoszine! Hopefully we’ll see you on becoming tour and all the best to the encounters of Agnostic Front!
Roger: “Thank You, Mikko!”
