I met Matt when he was in this band THOUGHT CRIME in NYC. He was friends of friends and was a snarky punk, so we got along great! I’ve watched his career over the past couple of years and I’m glad he’s finally settled down at Troy Denning’s Invisible NYC shop in the Lower East Side. There’s a good crew of guys at that shop and you can’t listen to better music while getting inked. Here’s Matt Van Cura…

What was your first punk show?
RIOT SQUAD from Dallas, it was their LP release show around ’94? I’m not very old…

What was your first punk record?
THE MISFITS Walk Among Us and THE EXPLOITED and Let’s Start a War on cassettes on the same day. I was eleven. Before that, my friends and I copied each other’s music. My first vinyl record was THE MISFITS Die Die My Darling 12″ EP. My friend’s older brother traded it to me for a LED ZEPPLIN t-shirt because he was over punk.

What was the last band you listened to?
RICHARD CHEESE!

How old were you when you started drawing?
I’m not sure. Before I could read or write. I was always interested in drawing.

How did punk influence your art?
As far as “punk art” goes, definitely Pushead, Marc Rude, Nick Lant’s art for the SUBHUMANS, and Nick Blinko (RUDIMENTARY PENI). They were the main visual influences. While the album artwork was a huge part of what attracted me into the underground punk world, it was also the flyers and the things people painted and drew on their clothes as well all the tattoos people had. It all seemed to be exactly what I wanted to be a part of. Punk rock music influenced me to be a strong and independent individual and be who and what I wanted to be despite the “norm.” I didn’t want to be a wage slave and abandon the things that came most natural to me. Whether that be expressing myself through visual art or music.

How does punk still influence you?
Punk rock was something I grew up on. It was an eye opener. It gave me the sense that I wasn’t alone in the feeling that things were somehow not what they should or could be. It’s a part of me. It’s a foundation of influence. I’m not really concerned with the scene or whatever. It’s my natural state if mind. I like to think that individuals influence subcultures rather than being influenced by them and the subculture is a vehicle.

What do you draw most?
A lot of what I draw is for the customer’s tattoo. Which could be damn near anything! Other than that, I really enjoy drawing aggressive “fuck off!!” imagery like skulls bones, daggers, snakes, devils, and reapers are never boring.

Last tattoo I got was from you with a dagger, duh! What kinds of jobs did you do before tattooing?
I did construction/demo, car washer, dishwasher, telemarketer…I toured with MDC for a while around the time I was starting to tattoo.

How hard was it to become a tattooer?
Very. It still is.

Did you apprentice?
No, not officially. I went about it the hard way. I got a hold of a couple machines through my friend. He and a couple of other guys who guided me through some things. They made sure I was going about it all in clean and safe way. It was tough and a little dangerous trying it out on my own, but I was determined. Eventually, I found a place that took me on and broke me in. A bit like a trial by fire situation with all the hazing you’d expect from an apprenticeship. Still, after that I was fortunate enough to meet people willing to share more knowledge with me.

Where was the first place you worked?
Slinging Ink Tattoo in Long Island, NY, was where I had my first real full time tattoo job.

Where do you work now?
I’m proud to say I work at Troy Denning’s Invisible NYC.

Is music a big part of the solidarity at Invisible NYC ?
We all have a common bond in tattooing. Having a punk and hardcore background is an added bonus. I can’t really picture tattooing without music.

What’s your advice to young punks who want to tattoo for a livin’?
I’m not really in the habit of giving advice, especially if someone’s looking to get into tattooing. However, I can say that whatever it is a person wants to do in life, if they believe in themselves and work hard, they can do it.

Do you feel lucky, punk?
Lucky? No, I feel like I work very hard for what I have and want!

How can we get in touch with you?
You can contact me and see more of my artwork at www.mattvancuratattoo.com, Instagram @mattvancura, or stop by Invisible NYC if you’re in town!

Tony is a poorly behaved man who sends inappropriate mail to the MRR HQ. His zine was a labor of love encapsulating the pure sounds of deafness until the movement collapsed, leaving us tired with a shadow of incessant ringing in our ears. More Noize is no longer printed for mass consumption, but a mere memory of punk times past. I thought I would take a walk down memory lane with Tony for your reading pleasure…

More Noize, how did it start?
The first issue of More Noize was in 2008.

What is it?
It’s a punk fanzine. Or it was a punk fanzine. I did twelve zines under the name More Noize. The last was number 13 — number 11 is an unfinished zine that may or may not come out sometime in 2013.

How do you feel about the word zine?
I like both the longer word “fanzine” and the short version. There is nothing wrong with being a fan of punk music, the problem starts when you talk about being a fan of a person. We are all equals.

Did you do zines before this?
Yes.

What genre of music does More Noize focus on?
Punk. There are no other genres worth writing about in my opinion.

What’s the difference between “noise” and “noize”?
There’s a “z” in the word “noize” — the way Taf from DISORDARGHH wrote it on posters and on records.

Does noize annoy?
When I started the zine the intention was to listen to every punk band in the world, and write about them, which I did with varying degrees of success, but a side effect was tinnitus. Tinnitus is annoying, not to mention permanent.

Why did you kill More Noize?
Because the zine helped spawn a generation of shit bands—with the exception of THE LOWEST FORM. Also the zine Cuntz here in the UK started a sort of hate or bullying campaign against me personally, not that I am buckling in to intimidation but in the end I kind of felt like the zine should be laid to rest.

What do you want for the future of punk?
I want current bands to record punk music that will be as considered classics in 30 years. On a personal level, I would not cry if people stopped supporting the likes of Cuntz fanzine in the otherwise positive and inclusive DIY punk scene.

Do you have a back catalogue for us to order?
No. But some More Noize back issues may still be bought from Feel It Records in the US, Record Shop Base in Japan and Blinddead in Sweden, as well as some others.

How can we stay up to date on your thoughts and creations?
The zine does have a lingering online presence of sorts but I will probably delete all of it soon enough. Therefore the best way to keep up with More Noize-related interests will be to purchase Maximumrocknroll magazine for the regular More Noize “Hardcore Charade” column and for regular interviews I do with bands that are typically of the interests of readers of More Noize zine.

Any last words?
Nah.

Up the punx or punks?
If punx refers to the likes of Cuntz magazine, then I much rather be a hippie.