Freddy Madball Part 1: 1983 - 1994
3/26/20262 hr 34 min
We’re joined by one of the marquee vocalists and frontmen in all of hardcore music: MADBALL vocalist Freddy Cricien, known to most simply as Freddy Madball.
In part 1 of this two-part 5 HOUR conversation, we discuss Freddy and Madball’s history from 1983 to 1994 - Discovering hardcore via his brother Roger Miret of Agnostic Front, starting Madball when he was just 11 years old, the “mad science” behind Ball of Destruction, following up with Droppin Many Suckers years later, and the massive endeavor of signing to Roadrunner Records at the height of the 90s hardcore boom for their debut album Set It Off… Much more to come next week.
A true landmark conversation for this show andone we’re thrilled to finally have made happen and to share with all of you. Thanks to Black Heart Barber Co. in Nashville for having us!
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Cool links:
• Get 15% off DUNABLE GUITARS with code HARDLORE
• Get 10% off MILLS VINTAGE site-wide with code HARDLORE
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00:00:00 - Start
00:00:58 - Freddy Madball
00:03:28 - Agnostic Fred: Discovering Hardcore Via Agnostic Front
00:15:02 - First Time Singing On Stage
00:16:35 - Being Dubbed "Madball" by Vinnie Stigma
00:19:31 - Finding Community in Hardcore Early, "Skinhead" Backlash
00:24:27 - Sneaking Into Shows, Getting Into Hip Hop, Finding His Own Interests in Hardcore
00:34:10 - Bad Religion, Brett Gurewitz & Hold It Down
00:41:14 - Cro-Mags & Agnostic Front Rivalry
00:43:26 - MADBALL
00:52:22 - Pardon This Interruption...
00:55:29 - BALL OF DESTRUCTION... Recording Live, Roger the Mad Scientist, "Hardcore Lives"
01:11:39 - DMS
01:21:53 - Thoughts on Krishna In Hardcore
01:24:20 - DROPPIN' MANY SUCKERS... Matt Henderson, First Madball Tours, Growing Up on Record
01:35:07 - Working With Don Fury
01:44:49 - SET IT OFF... Roadrunner Records, The 90s Hardcore Boom, Writing For the First Time
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsColin Young· Host0:00
So you brought up Vinnie being an encouraging- Yeah ... figure in your life.
Freddy Cricien· Guest0:03
Yeah.
Colin Young· Host0:03
He gave you the name Madball.
Freddy Cricien· Guest0:05
That's correct.
Colin Young· Host0:06
Tell me.
Freddy Cricien· Guest0:07
Vinnie being Vinnie, you know?
Colin Young· Host0:09
Was it based off the toy or the, the sock- The toy ... with the- I don't wanna say that exactly- Sure ...
Freddy Cricien· Guest0:14
but could very well have been- Okay [laughs] ... strongly influenced by that 'Cause that's, that's funny.
Colin Young· Host0:17
That's funnier- Yeah ... because that's Sigma watching TV, seeing this toy, and being like, "That reminds me of Freddy."
Freddy Cricien· Guest0:23
There's another component to it, is I do have a little bit of a temper.
Colin Young· Host0:27
As an 11-year-old?
Freddy Cricien· Guest0:28
You know, only if I'm agitated, like i- Sure ... if you bring it out. If you got me going- Yeah ... I could be a mad ball.
Colin Young· Host0:34
[upbeat rock music] Hello, welcome. It's Hardlord Time. How you doing, Bo?
Bo Lueders· Host1:00
I'm doing great, Colin. Where are we today?
Colin Young· Host1:02
We are at Blackheart Barber Company in Nashville, Tennessee- Hmm ... for one of the most monumental days in the history of our sport here. We have maybe the definitive hardcore front man, realistically. This is a true lifer of the genre, one of our, our most anticipated guests of all time.
Bo Lueders· Host1:28
Someone on the immediate