I’ll never forget hearing Shutdown for the first time many years ago and being blown away by the high energy and sense of purpose in the then-young upstart band’s fiery brand of driven NYHC. In very exciting news, the band continue their hot streak with Equal Vision Records and a new EP By Your Side! Learning from the ups and downs in life and building community is what this band has always been about. It was a lot of fun to catch up with singer Mark Scondotto about Shutdown these days.

Morgan Y. Evans for Ghost Cult Magazine: Mark! So good to do this. One of my top favorite hardcore bands and front dudes ever. I think the last time I interviewed you was like 2000 with ‘Something To Prove’. That’s insane it was almost 25 years ago. Shutdown hit 30 years old as a band this year! I have listened to ‘The Judged’ probably several hundred times since then, haha. How does it feel looking back to still be here with your guys and invested in the genre and scene? I remember when you were the up and comers! 

 

Mark Scondotto: It honestly feels great and we’re very appreciative to just be here in the present making music. We started as teenagers, and to still be basically the same four guys for almost 30 years, having gone through life together and battled ups and downs like a true family. Our goal in 2025 is to be able to travel back to a lot of the places we’ve always loved playing and bring our new music to the masses. 

 

GCM: It is awesome that Equal Vision is backing you guys. I love some of the records from the years the label expanded their sound and reach, but I will always be partial to EVR hardcore albums. How did the new EP come about, By Your Side? I love the title as it made me think how even when you feel alone how Hardcore can still be there to support your spirit. Or how the scene came together to support Lou from Sick of It All, for example! The single is also about suicide prevention. As a non-binary person and someone who almost killed myself years ago, I respect your support for mental health. In my community there is a huge uptick in suicides for people who don’t get TLC and PMA. I understand your song was inspired by a friend Regina. Is that ok to ask about? 

 

Mark: Yes, absolutely. Regina Corely was the Aunt of our bass player, Dion, who tragically took her life way too soon. Dion decided to write “By Your Side” not just in tribute to Regina, but as a reminder to all who struggle with mental health that true friends will always be by your side to pick you up when you’re down and you never have to battle alone. Shutdown has always maintained a positive message in all our music since the beginning, and it was important for us to continue that tradition with our new material. 

GCM: Let’s talk NY sports. We had a fun reconnection getting excited for the Mets post-season. I was mentioning how Josh from Coheed also is a big Mets fan, ever since I have known him and the original Three (his brother’s band) bassist Chris Bittner.  How has it felt seeing the team do so well again? What is your earliest memory that made you a baseball fan? Incidentally, the funniest shit happened the other day. I had just moved from Tustin to Mission Viejo the day after I talked to you last. I am disconnecting my Spectrum (cable) and on the phone call the tech and I somehow started talking baseball. He is watching the Yankees and we started talking baseball on his work line for like 20 minutes, hahaha, clowning on how The Yanks made Cleveland’s pitcher Tanner Bibee look bad in like the second inning. And then, weirdly, I looked up Tanner and he coincidentally went to High School like a mile from me in Mission Viejo. Weird! 

 

Mark: It feels great to watch the Mets play well again after a poor start. As I type this back, unfortunately, we lost to the Dodgers, who went on to win the World Series. That said, it was a hell of a season to watch the Mets play so well and give us something to root for at the end of the year in the playoffs. I’m really excited about the future of this team for years to come and hold my head high even though we didn’t win it all this year. True Mets fans are always believers. My earliest memory that made me a baseball fan was my father being friends with a coach on the Mets of the 1986 world champion team, and being able to go to tons of games and sit in the best seats, meeting some of my favorite players from that time. It was truly a child’s dream come true. 

 

GCM: Amazing! I have immense respect for you guys for always staying true to your values as a band, never compromising the real hardcore focus for the sake of trends and for just being such a legit NYC band. Being older and perhaps wiser, haha, how are you guys approaching live events these days and will I get to see you guys do some West Coast dates now that I am on the other side of the country? 

 

Mark: In 2025, we will most definitely be hitting the West Coast, most likely with our good friends in Berthold City, who are based out of L.A. Although we all have careers and families, we are looking forward in 2025 to traveling as much as humanly possible within our means, including Europe, South America, and many cities throughout the United States.

 

GCM: I hear you guys or a band like Kill Your Idols and I love to hear the growth but also the trademark elements. It sounds like you are more confident as a singer than ever, from the single. I also always felt like Shutdown was very rhythmic compared to some bands. Not like “groovy” or something like some Shelter, maybe, but always some cool tom drums work or accents or a sense of forward movement. What were your goals for this new EP? 

 

Mark: Our goal with this new EP was simple- to create something truly unique that highlighted our growth both as musicians and individuals throughout the years since we’ve been together. We wanted every song on this record to be a banger and also every song to be extremely unique in its own right. We have songs that are melodic, and songs that are fast with moshy elements, something for everyone really on this EP. 

 

GCM: I am writing this to you on Edge Day and am coming up on five years sober, personally. And actually, the last time I did cocaine was probably the last year I interviewed you, over twenty years ago. It is hard for me to claim edge because I spent so many years struggling the demon of booze and stuff, but I consider myself it now and am firmly committed to sobriety. Do you think that is ok for people to call themselves if they used to struggle? Is something that came to you from being a Catholic or was it from more of a punk thing and thinking it felt right for you? 

 

Mark: For me, the ideals of straight-edge came from being into Hardcore and Punk Rock. Specifically, first getting into Hardcore and falling in love with bands like Youth of Today and Minor Threat is what attracted me to the lifestyle of straight edge. That said, I did grow up in a Catholic household, with parents who did not often drink and never did drugs, so it probably came full circle when I got into Hardcore. 

 

GCM: What is something that hardcore brought into your life, be it people or places or things, that you never could’ve imagined? The cover art of the new EP of all the people on the bridge kind of says it all!

 

Mark: Hardcore brought a real sense of community and family into my life, and filled a big void for me in forging friendships with people all over the world that shared the same love of the music. I hold these friendships close to my heart and have maintained most today 30 years later. I think everyone in our community understands that it’s much much more than music. Hardcore is something for most of us that brings out the best in us. 

 

Buy shutdown music and merch here: 
https://shutdown.lnk.to/byyourside

https://equalvision.bandcamp.com/album/by-your-side

MORGAN Y. EVANS
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