Hi Nicky, How are you and what are you up to at the moment?

I’m currently sitting in a small bar in Philadelphia. It’s 12:30 pm and I’m just fine.

Do you just want to explain how Nothing got together and what your original goals were?

I had been sitting on a bunch of songs I had recorded on my own over the span of 2006-2010. I was living in Los Angeles at the time and finally seeing light at the end of an eight year nervous breakdown tunnel. I realized music was the only thing that’s truly ever made me happy, so I moved back to Philadelphia and began looking for members to help me get the songs off the ground.

Downwards Years to Come was probably my favourite record to come out last year. Is there any particular concept to the record with the title, imagery etc? What does it all mean?

Thanks. Downward was a nod to several poets who I have been heavily influenced by over the years. All had taken their own lives as well. It was a way to show my appreciation for their works.

As far as the art goes, Brandon and I wanted to use something that would compliment the density and fullness of the music on Downward by playing on the opposite, using a far more minimalistic approach.

How did A389 come about releasing the record? They’re a label generally known for putting out darker hardcore and then all of sudden released the Anne record and your record.

Dom is a brilliant individual. He runs the best independent hardcore/punk label in the US. We were ecstatic to find out he was interested. He contacted me and we had a ton of mutual friends so it was all a very easy process and a no brainer of a decision.

Your debut LP is going to be called Guilty Of Everything. Can you shed any light on what that means and any other info on it?

Again I’m very inspired by things I read. I discovered Herbert Huncke a couple years back. Many believe he was the start of the Beat Generation due to his influence on the likes of Ginsberg and Burroughs. His writing was less of an accomplishment rather than the inspiration he sent out. Robberies, scams, drug deals and usage. His autobiography is titled the same and it’s generally about how whatever corner he turned, in whatever direction he looked, there was some unhealthy negative thing waiting for him and he learned to greet them all with a smile. This book and person inspire me deeply.

We will be releasing the LP on Relapse Records by the end of the year. It will sit well next to DYTC in the grand scheme of Nothing.

Can you just explain why you were imprisoned? What were you charged with and what happened etc?

It’s not as complex as it may seem. I was involved in an altercation with some guys when I was about 18 years old. It got out of control fast, like most things did back then. The next thing I knew I was looking at a slew of charges including Attempted Murder and several different types of Aggravated Assault’s that I didn’t even know existed at the time. I was sentenced to seven years, I managed to slide out in two. It’s hard to imagine there aren’t more details, but unfortunately the Prison system isn’t as exciting as you may be led to believe.

It was the beginning of an even darker point of my life filled with far worse tragedies to come, but I managed to come out unscathed. Eventually anyway.

Horror Show play the occasional show again. How is it playing songs you wrote all those years ago?

Horror Show will always be very important to me. It started in the best point of my life and rolled right into the beginning of the worst. Regardless of what good and bad things came during the bands time, it held the most feeling. When we would occasionally play after, it was just to try and breathe in that nostalgia again.

The hardcore scene you were part of spawned some good post-punk/shoegaze bands, yet those bands have never fully left fled their hardcore connections, why do you think this is the case?

Well, it wasn’t really a planned thing. We tend to want to stick with a label who cares for the release as much as we do and that has a good track record for being trust worthy and loyal. Just happens to be that most of those labels are punk/hardcore. Our first release, “Suns And Lovers” was released by a small boutique label in Tokyo called Big Love Records. Not many punk releases, but the label still has a very punk approach.

Has the way you approach writing lyrics differed from playing in a hardcore band compared to what you’re doing now?

Not much has changed, just more things to cry over I guess.