Anaheim’s grindy, movie-themed hardcore weirdos Graf Orlock released their final album End Credits last month, and now they’ve announced their final East Coast show. It happens on September 16 at Saint Vitus with The Sawtooth Grin (fresh off releasing their first album in 21 years), Fluoride, and the Graf Orlock-related Sweat. Tickets are on sale now.
Graf Orlock’s Justin Smith gave an interview with New Noise Magazine about Graf Orlock’s 20+ year career. Here’s an excerpt:
What does the end of Graf Orlock mean for Vitriol then? Anything?
Well, it is the flagship band, if you will. We had done records with Level Plane before it disappeared. And the reason I started the label was because Level Plane disappeared. In summer 2009, Graf Orlock and my other band Ghostlimb were going to be doing 42 days in Europe, and we couldn’t go without records, but Level Plane had folded, but we had to have records for this thing, so I made them and that’s one and two. And now, the stuff that’s about to come out, End Credits, is 61, and the other stuff gets us to 63.
I don’t know. I think there’s so much stuff and other things going on now; there’s a lot of Graf Orlock stuff I have, and those presses don’t disappear. I think the legacy of the connection is always going to be there because it’s the main band that’s always driven the thing. All the bands that I’ve been in are together. Like my other band, Ghostlimb, which is more melodic and about history and politics and stuff. Graf Orlock was like the sledgehammer; Ghostlimb was like the stiletto. It’s just closing one part of one stylistic side of things. Otherwise, I love the band, or I wouldn’t have done it for half of my life, but I don’t want things to drag on forever.
My commentary about the day-to-day stuff. I mail stuff; I do the distro; it’s something I’m never away from. I don’t have distance from it, which maybe is a good thing in this case so I can objectively and unromantically think about it. If we played once a year, like a fest once or twice a year, I could say, “Yeah I can do this forever” because there’s no real investment of time, but when you’ve never gotten out of that loop, it makes sense to step away from it finally.
So, what are you gonna do with the free time now?
I have no free time. The thing that’s funny is the bass player, Rollie, is in a death metal band called Teeth. I play in a band called Sweat that’s like a rock-style band. I was in this band Dangers for a long time. I’ve been in a bunch of bands, and honestly, Graf Orlock is the band that has played the least most of the time.
The records will still exist, so I’ll still have to mail them out. The idea is that the last couple shows are to have a crazy fire sale and make sure people who didn’t get it could get it. But really I don’t think much will change in my life when it comes to time. This is like a job I don’t get paid for.
Read the full interview at New Noise.
