R:Rob Rish

V:Vic DiCara

So, how has it been coming out of "retirement" so to speak?

R: Everything has ben great. The shows have ben amazing, we are all stoked on the new record and the vibes/energy are brilliant.

V: Fuck "retirement" - we were in cryogenic sleep while traveling through the galaxy at faster than light speeds in order to obtain the futuristic sounds we are currently in the process of dropping on the heads of earthlings.

You guys are all living in different parts of the country, so where is everyone residing at today and how have you guys managed to set time aside for shows, recording, writing, etc,.?

R: Well, Trivikrama, our bass player, lives in Boston Massachusetts, Vic, our guitar player, lives in the Inland Empire of California, Tom, our drummer, lives in Santa Barbara, California and I live in Stockton, California. Essentially I live 5 hours from Vic and Triv on the other side of the US so we are sprinkled far apart. As far as writing and practice we all write so we just put together ideas and send to one another. We then schedule time to practice around tours and schedules which allows us to finalize new songs. It definitely is not the easiest arrangement and we would love to live close to practice and write weekly but that simply isn't possible so we just work around our work schedules to get time together to practice, write, play and tour.

V: i'm currently in the inland empire of california, contemplating a move to either San Francisco, Japan, or Costa Rica. We set aside time for the band with great pains. Little motherfuckers in their teens and tweens are soft bastards who have no idea how to sacrifice their life's blood for their music. ;)

What was it that drew 108 to Deathwish Inc?

R: When we decided to continue on with 108 we all jotted down the top labels we would like to work with and sent them to one another and Deathwish was number 1 on everyones lists so when we recorded we sent them the demo and that was that. Personally I loved the aesthetic of the label and thought it would be a great home for us.

V: nicole is cute. jake is hard. tre is a bear

Did Equal Vision Records come to you guys about the discography or vice versa?

R: EVR approached us about it a few times over the years and we finally pulled it together last year.

V: Holyname and Songs of Separation were out of print. Instead of reprinting we wanted to fix up holyname (separate the tracks) and get Curse of Instinct and Threefold Misery out of "Lost and Founds" hands.

How was it working and collaborating with Kurt Ballou? And whose idea was it for him to play various instruments on "(IL)logical End"?

R: It was a great experience. We had some different ideas as to how to record this record which I think made it an interesting mix. Having him play on (il)Logical End wasn't planned out. Just sort of happened.

V: Kurts cool. I inspired him to stage dive. It was Trivikrama Dasa's idea to have Kurt play various instruments on that song.

Vic, I always loved reading Static-Void, do you plan to bring that back to life in the future or is that dead? And you still run Static Void studio correct?

V: I work two jobs, am in a recording and touring band, and have two human boys and one human woman to nourish with love... not to mention my dear friends. Static Void generated no income, so frankly I had to terminate the (immense) amount of time I was spending on it.

I still have the studio Static-Void, but for the past year or so it's been used mainly for writing and demoing 108 material.

It seems so many bands are reuniting, reforming and of course most kids are going to say it's for money, especially when you have Earth Crisis asking for tons of money to play a show. Do you think kids have good reason for believing it's just for the money?

R: Hard to say as I haven't been involved in putting on any of their shows and personally I don't really care. People can decide who to see play and who not to see play and obviously if people are willing to give bands a ridiculous amount of money to play a karaoke set then some will do it. I will admit that the rash of reunions was something on my mind when we decided to start recording and playing again. The key difference is that for 108 this isn't about the past or some silly trip down memory lane; it is about the here and now. I think our record and touring illustrates that.

V: Who knows what it's for. I don't give a crap.

Has anyone heard the new Bad Brains album, "Build A Nation"? If so, what are your thoughts on the album?

R: Well, I think it is good in comparison to the past few albums and there are some songs I dig.

I'm sure you guys are dreading this question as it pertains to religion. As I mentioned earlier, I was an avid reader of Vic's site and one of the most interesting articles was "I was a teenage Hare Krishna". Essentially Vic you said you came to realize "Life itself is spiritual". Obviously your views are different than some of your bandmates, has it ever resulted in any head butting?

R: There is no difference in opinion. Religion has nothing to do with my life. I don't subscribe to someones set of rules or beliefs nor do they dictate what I feel, don't feel or how I live my life. 108 was certainly affiliated with a religious institution to some degrees in the early 90's but we never aligned ourselves with it in some dogmatic or complete way. We took from it what we saw as a positive and rejected the rest. Coincidentally Vic and I made our breaks from that organization at the same time even though we had virtually no contact.

V: Why would we dread this question? It's quite the opposite. I bet that you wont find anything from Ras, Trivikrama or Tom that would butt heads with my feeling that there is no need to practice a prescribed, organized religion and that instead one can focus on everyday spirituality in motion, in life itself.

And just to follow up on that, do you guys as a whole still consider yourselves a Hare Krishna band?

R: No. We are a band that is deeply inspired by the Gaudiya Vaisnava theology and specifically it's very esoteric being but not aligned with the religious group. We are all unique individuals with our own takes and levels of appreciation and focus.

V: 108 is a rock band. We play rock concerts. The music we write comes from our inner selves. This is what we consider ourselves. This is what we have always considered ourselves.

What would you guys like to accomplish this time around that you didn't before your hiatus in 96'?

R: Nothing to accomplish. Put out music from the heart.

V: Nothing. Each album, each show, each song, each note, each emotion is the supreme accomplishment in itself.

You would think more hardcore bands opposed to mainstream society and materialism would be opposed to using Myspace, no matter how many people they can ultimately reach. Was everyone on board with making a page for the band?

R: Where would that end? No records, recordings, t-shirts? By nature they are all "material". Materialistic is just a sloppy word. Do you do something or own something because it is meaningful or is it to horde things? That is what defines materialistic in my head.

V: That's a rather shallow definition of "materialism". Myspace is not inherintly more or less materialistic that a tree growing in a field. "Materialism" depends on what you do with something and why you do it. Put 108 on motherfucking KROC, put us on MTV, MySpace, i don't give a flying fuck. Put us on Top of the Pops - the more the merrier. The music we make is the music we make. I want more people to hear it. Period.

Do you think hardcore has lost its progressiveness and freethinking?

R: Has it ever really had it? Individuals do; always have and always will but collectively, as with any social group, there are the extremes.

V: Compared with the early 90's hardcore scene, yes. Actually to me the hardcore scene is fairly zombified. There are some very good bands, though. I am leaning more towards the metal crossover scene. To me these kids honestly seem a lot more sincere and music oriented than the people in the hardcore scene these days.

Guys, thanks a ton for taking the time out to do this really appreciate it. If you have any last words or words of wisdom to bestow upon the fine people reading this, please feel free to speak your mind.

R: Thank you!

V: Here are some words of wisdom: The meaning of life is pleasure. The purpose of the supreme life ("god") is to enjoy and share the supreme pleasure.

**OUT NOW- 108 "A New Beat From A Dead Heart**