The Witzard

There really isn't too much to say here, but... BLOODSTAINS from Orange County, California have quickly become one of our personal favorite Punk/Hardcore bands around these parts. We were turned onto these guys, via our fellow writer Punk/Hip-Hop supporter Ben Merlis somewhere on Facebook. BLOODSTAINS consists of frontman Cesar Eduardo "Eddie" Marin, guitarist David Espinoza, bassist Nick Espinoza, and drummer Vince Catanho. BLOODSTAINS self-released their 3-song demo tape, simply titled Demo 2020, late last year and more recently, uploaded a $5.00 cassette tape to tehir Bandcamp page. It sounds like, in an ideal world, BLOODSTAINS would have liked to been able to play a proper album release show for Demo 2020. Demo 2020 by Bloodstains "Unfortunately, due to restrictions, we can't have a proper release show for our demo tape we put out, but we will be live on Instagram tomorrow night, if you'd like to tune in and "stage dive" off your couch,...

BLOODSTAINS is an Orange County, California-based Punk Rock/SoCal Death band. They're quite mysterious and list next to nothing on their Bandcamp page and don't seem to have a Facebook page or other social media accounts, but their frontman Cesar Eduardo "Eddie" Marin seems to have a bit more of a social presence online. We, actually, heard about BLOODSTAINS from an online friend and fellow writer, Ben "Edge" Merlis, who posted about them within a Punk/Hardcore Facebook Group. BLOODSTAINS current line-up includes Marin on vocals, David Espinoza on guitar, Nick Espinoza on bass, and Vince Catanho on drums. Demo 2020 by Bloodstains BLOODSTAINS' debut release, Demo 2020, a 3-tarck demo EP is currently available as a Bandcamp exclusive. Said Bandcamp page lists: All Songs Written & Performed By BLOODSTAINS, Recorded By David Espinoza, Mastered By Colin Knight , November/December 2020, and Logo Design By Geoff Kresge (Ex-AFI/Tiger Army, FEAR.) Ces...

Ben Merlis in a BOLD T-shirt pictured with Mr. T (CREDIT: Wyatt Lavasseur) I think about the intersection of Punk & Hip-Hop quite often. Both are street-level genres that were initially rejected by the mainstream, chided for not being "real music." Punks had to book shows at VFW halls and DJ crews set up in public parks well before most of the performers or audience was of drinking age. Both fostered fanatical devotees, who argue that these are, actually, all-encompassing cultures, rather than radio formats or sections in record stores. Being that Punk & Hip-Hop have so much in common, it shouldn't be a surprise that some of the first people outside The Bronx to be bit by "The Rap Bug" were Punks. Dante Ross, who grew up on The Lower East Side of Manhattan going to see bands like Sham 69 wound up doing A&R for Tommy Boy and Elektra, signing groups like Brand Nubian, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, and K.M.D. One of his bosses back then, Tommy Boy ...