Music

No Warning's Ben Cook talks their reunion single, "Resurrection of the Wolf"

by Mark Teo

Photo: theb9.com/board

Over the last decade, Ben Cook has become one of the most indispensable—and prolific—figures in Canadian independent music. His highest-profile work, of course, comes from his swooning guitar work with Fucked Up, but that’s only the start: He records fistfuls of bands in his east end Toronto studio. He runs Bad Actors, a label that’s cut work from Ell V Gore and Bizzarh (who we also love). And he’s the mouthpiece for countless bands, from Yacht Club, to Young Guv, to Roommates, to Bitters. Plus, he’s the best child actor-musician this side of Macaulay Culkin.

But among a certain subset of his followers—hardcore kids—one of Cook’s earliest projects is his most celebrated. No, we’re not talking about the Smegheads—we’re talking No Warning, the bruising NYHC-influenced band, who, while Cook was still in his teens, earned a modern classic with 2002’s Ill Blood. It remains one of the finest hardcore LPs of the ’00s, and accordingly, No Warning’s reputation—despite its divisive, polished successor, Suffer Survive, which purists less-than-lovingly dubbed the Nu Warning era—has remained sterling, even when they disbanded in 2005.

No Warning’s hasty breakup, though, left most clamouring for more—with two flawless releases and one (undeniably hard) dud to their name, their split was akin to Weezer quitting after the Green Album. But unlike Rivers Cuomo, Cook and co. moved on, perhaps realizing that the past’s best left untarnished; until now, the band has resisted reuniting, despite receiving generous offers to do so. That is, until, this past June, when Cook announced that the band would be cutting one final seven-inch, Resurrection of the Wolf, as a benefit for Zach Amster, an ex-member who’s fallen on hard times.

Here’s the artwork for the release, via Tumblr user MattxPike.

On Thursday, December 12, the seven-inch, with “Resurrection of the Wolf,” an airtight rage blackout on side A and a Violent Minds cover, “Bloodsucker,” on side B, is finally being released by Cook’s Bad Actors imprint. With it comes a pop-up shop with a whole roster of DJs (including Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham, FU / Career Suicide / Mad Men mastermind Jonah Falco, and original Comeback Kid singer Scott Wade). We spoke with Cook about No Warning’s new seven-inch, his future plans for the project, and his next signing on Bad Actors.

Have you gotten much feedback about the seven-inch yet? People have been comparing it to Obituary.

Oh yeah? Because it leaked on Rdio? I haven’t really seen much about it, but then again I don’t really read message boards or anything. I just know that we think its good and hope people fuck with it.

Yeah, I feel like a zillion hardcore kids signed up to Rdio just to hear it.

Yeah, Rdio should pay us some cash, right? [But] It’s 2014. Shit happens. Some idiot messed up. There’s a video, a statement, all of that being released tomorrow [Dec. 12] at 2 p.m.

Makes sense. So what was it like to get everyone from No Warning back in the studio again?

It was amazing. We’ve never really lost touch or anything. I obviously have been doing music with Matt [Delong, guitarist], Jesse [Labovitz, drummer] and Ryan [Gavel, bassist] ever since No Warning broke up, so it didn’t feel like a reunion or anything weird like that. That music comes really natural to everyone. It’s really easy to make [music] with this team of people. We can all kind of get stoned and goof off the entire time, but it always ends up sounding very legit.

Right. So did writing a No Warning song come natural to Jordan, or was is he totally in Terror mode now?

[Laughs] Jordan is forever in the exact same mode. He is still the exact same guy with the exact same cut off t-shirts. I guess we are all kind of the same. We fuck with different music a lot now, but that’s natural for any musician or artist, I would hope. Jordan came with the riffs like he always does, and Matt and I help toss the bad and keep the good.

The song and the entire thing was dreamt by Matt, right down to the name of the record, before we heard about Zach’s situation. So when we [recorded], we went with his vision. Its the strangest record I’ve ever made. Also the easiest.

Speaking of Zach, what happened with him?

Zach suffered from a life-threatening skin disorder while in our band. He had to take time off back then. He recovered, thankfully, and rejoined us—but was kind of never the same in the head. He suffered from PTSD, which later turned into more serious things in his mind. And addiction. That life turned into crime and street shit, and he made some bad decisions. He’s now in jail awaiting sentencing. I have been around addiction all my life with my own family, and we all know Zach to be an incredible person and we care for him. So when we heard the news, it only made sense to do something for him and give his daughter and wife all the money.

We have had offers for tons of money to do reunions, but that never felt right. This did. So we are here for a minute—who knows what happens next.

So would you consider doing a reunion or more studio shit now, considering it might be able to raise more money for Zach’s family?

I think the intention, and our goal to give Zach our love and support, has been met even without the money we will make. I would definitely consider more studio things in the future just based on how well and easy this all went. All these dudes in this band are extremely talented and crazy as hell. It’d be wild. Live stuff is a different story. Who knows.

So what have the other No Warning dudes been doing? Matt’s no longer in Toronto, right?

Matt’s back in L.A. doing his thing. He just really likes the weather and the weed, and I guess the women… Sorry, I think thats a Kendrick lyric. But thats him. We still do music together, he sends me beats and songs he’s crafting down there and we will continue to do Yacht Club coast to coast. Matt and Jesse are still doing their things as studio musicians and musical hustlers. Jord’s obviously kickin’ it with Terror. I think I’m gonna produce or help out with a few tracks on that next record. I’d like to produce more quality hardcore or punk bands. I don’t know why anyone hasn’t ever asked me. lol.

So what do you have planned for that pop-up shop?

Just a ton of friends DJing while we sell records, and exclusive long sleeves. There’s a surprise band in the basement too. It’s like Drake’s Nothing Was The Same pop up shop in Toronto except less people, and all dudes. I’m playin’, we were always down with the ladies.

Who’s the surprise band? I feel like people are speculating that it’s some version of Violent Minds.

Cool! Tell people it’s true.

So you’re expecting to see a bunch of classic Toronto personalities come out of the woodwork for the release?

There aren’t any of those except me, so yeah I’ll be there. Just kidding. Damian from Fucked Up is DJing, and Jonah Falco. I dont really know who else. Most people in Toronto didn’t fuck with us while we were around because they were jealous. So I don’t know who is going to show up. I’ll just be glad that people do. It will mean a lot to us. And thank you to everyone who has been into our music ever, and anyone who grabs the record or buys it online. It’s a real effort, and it’s a meaningful thing. Respect and love to everyone.

For real. One more thing: Have you ever met this superfan?

No, but if that girl is out there and she reads this or anyone knows her can you tell her to get in touch with me? She’s gone ghost. We need to speak to her; I’d like to interview her for Pitchfork AHEM, AUX, and sign her to Bad Actors.