I met Sam on the Forfeit/Foundation tour last summer. He was nice enough to let us stay at his parents house for a few days. He has been doing Triple B for quite some time now and he has put out some great records in the past few years. I did this interview with him over email a couple months back so everything is a little outdated. Go and check out his site, he has some new releases coming out very soon that are really awesome so go pre-order them all! Look out for Downpresser, Fire and Ice, Wolf Whistle, Thought Crusade and many more on the way.

Can you start by telling us a little about yourself?Sam: Absolutely, my friend! I’m Sam and I run Triple B Recs. I’m a 20 year old Sophomore attending Emmanuel College in Boston, Massachusetts. I love eating Popeyes, burritos from El Pelon, chicken Parmesan subs from Sabatinos, Dunkin Donuts, wings from Wings Over Brookline (you had these with me, Squints), and grilled chicken sandwiches from the Emmanuel Cafeteria. I enjoy posting up on Newbury St, touring, and watching the same 5 movies over and over.

I know you are quite the road dawg for not playing in a band. What tours have you gone on and what was your role involved with those tours?The first tour I went on was a one week East Coast tour last December/January (07/08) with Lie And Wait. That tour was probably the coldest I’ve ever been in my life. On this tour, I was the “merch” guy but mainly was there to hang with the LAW dudes since I usually only get to see them once a year. The second tour was my first US tour this past summer with Have Heart. On that tour I held down the merch man position with my compadres Aaron Apps and Michael Toomey. I actually did work on that tour, unlike the previous tour. The third tour was another East Coast winter tour (08/09) with Foundation and Forfeit. I was the “merch” man for Foundation but didn’t actually do any work; I was there mainly to hang with everyone

in Foundation and Forfeit. We had a good time didn’t we? ;)

What tour was your favorite and what were some of the most memorable moments on the road?Tough question, this is definitely a tie between the Have Heart tour and the Foundation/Forfeit tour. The HH tour was better “show” wise but the Foundation/Forfeit tour was better “shenanigans” wise. Some memories include:-Wildcat throwing a fire cracker in the back of the Foundation van after Tomas rolled the window up. Matt Smith was pissed. -Van wars with Verse on the Have Heart tour.-Seeing a girl getting fingered by her boyfriend while she drove on the freeway on our way to Johnson City on the Foundation tour. -Nashville to Cleveland drive on the winter 07 tour (that shit

sucked) Diving/moshing for Have Heart, Foundation, Forfeit, and Lie And Wait every night there are a bunch more but these are some of the best.

Around what time in your life did you fist get into hardcore? What was your first show and what made you want to go to more shows?I started listening to punk/hardcore when I was in 7th grade. I had switched schools and became friends with the “punk” crowd so they got me into shit like Rancid, Operation Ivy, and even Poison the Well. I didn’t go to my first show until I was in 8th grade, though. I asked my dad to take me to Gainesville Fest but he said no (that was the year of the infamous Converge riot). The first show I went to was the Dillinger Escape Plan. At this show, I saw the fire being spit into the crowd, people jumping off the side railings, and a bunch of fights. The feeling of not knowing what’s going to happen and the overall “fear” of crazy people at shows is what kept me going to more shows. Also

seeing people jump off anything and everything made me want to try it myself.

Having been around the country with other bands and going to shows, what would you say the biggest issues are right now with hardcore?I think the biggest issue is the elitist mentality in the scene. Older guys saying and doing things to put younger kids in the scene down for no reason at all. That shit always gets to me, especially when these elitists complain about no one going to shows. Who wants to go to shows when people who are bigger and older than them are putting them down?

What sparked your interest to put out records? Where did you get the idea for the name Triple B? did you have any influences when starting out?

I started collecting vinyl when I was in 9th grade and I always thought it would be awesome to press a record myself. My friend Colin and I decided to give it a shot when we were in 10th grade. The name Triple B came from a strip club sign in Daytona and originally stood for Bikes, Babes, and Beer. Colin and I always thought that sign was funny so we just called it Triple B. The biggest influences were Deathwish and Revelation. Both labels have solid line-ups and do great work on all their releases.

Where do you see Triple B Records 5 years from now? What are your future goals with the label? Do you think that 5 years from now triple b will still be DIY based label or on a much larger level such as deathwish or bridge 9?I’m honestly not sure. I don’t really have any “goals”, I really just want to release records for awesome bands that I know and love. I really want to do a picture disc; that would be cool. I’d also like to press a really weird sized record like an 8” or an 11”, just because it would be funny. I’m sure that in 5 years, BBB will still be a DIY based label although being on the same scale as Deathwish and B9 would be awesome.

Top five records of 2008?1. Have Heart- Songs to Scream at the Sun2. Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago3. Cruel Hand- Prying Eyes4. the Killers- Day & Age5. Verse- Aggression

What was your first release and what made you decide to put it out?The first BBB release was the Earthquake/Gak Attack split 7”? I had traded records with Sean from Earthquake for a while, we were internet friends haha. He knew I wanted to start up a label and asked if I wanted to release their split. Since I was into the Quake, I said definitely. It all just set off from there, after that I was hitting up other bands and planning more releases. It was awesome.

I know you did a few records with Atlanta band Overdose, how did you get in touch with them? What made you decide to continue to work with them? How did you feel after they broke up? What was the last show like?I first met the guys in Overdose back in July 2006. They played with Look Out (Lie And Wait) in Daytona and absolutely killed it. I then saw them again that year at This Is For You Fest. After getting their self released EP, I told them I would put out any kind of record for them. They were down to do a CD and have it out that summer for their tours. The CD came out in July and soon after, they wanted to do another record this time on vinyl. In June, they were staying at my house with Lie And Wait and both bands talked about doing a split 7” with BBB. Overdose and LAW had their songs for the split recorded by the end of July and the split came out in September 07. It was easy to keep working with them because they’re not only a great band but all the guys in the band are the best friends anyone could ask for. I was very bummed to hear they were breaking up and made sure to travel to the last show in Atlanta. I rolled to the last show with a car full of friends from Florida. The Last show was nothing short of amazing. Lie And Wait drove from Texas to play, tons of kids went crazy for Overdose, and even Champ from Foundation moshed. There’s a video of the last show on Youtube, check it out. Every band should have a last show like Overdose. What made you decide to keep working with Lie and Wait after putting out the “Unrestrained” 7” when they were titled as Look Out? The LP and the “Awakening” 7” have some great riffs, any plans for another release in the near future?Well the Unrestrained 7” was pretty much sold out when they decided to change their name so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Each LAW release has progressed significantly and if they were to write an LP, it would be absolutely mind blowing. Unfortunately, I think LAW is going to be calling it quits this year which is a shame but they’re ready to move on to bigger things. I told them I would release any LAW record so hopefully they’ll stick it out a little more.

What are your plans for 2009? Have any releases set up?So far, we have a 7” coming out for Downpresser from California and a last show 7” for Nervous Breakdown from Orlando. We have a couple more releases that we’re working on

right now that I can’t release info about but I can tell you that this is going to be a BIG year for BBB!

I know you are quite the records collector, what’s your most prized gem?Hmmm tough question. I’m gonna have to go with my Judge- Chung King Can Suck It LP. I also treasure all my Warzone- Lower East Side Crew 7”s and my Antidote 7”. I’m looking for an Abused- Loud and Clear 7” OG so if anyone out there has one, hit me up!

All time favorite hardcore record…go!It’s a tie between Don’t Forget the Struggle, Don’t Forge the Streets and the Lower East Side Crew 7” both by WARZONE (the greatest hardcore band ever).

What record(s) are you looking forward to pick up this year?Forfeit LP, Trapped Under Ice LP, Bad Seed 7”, Foundation 7” on Six Feet Under, Rise and Fall LP, Shipwreck LP, Mother of Mercy LP, Power Trip 7”, ON 7”. I’m sure there’s some other stuff I’m forgetting as well.

Best show of 2008?There were many awesome shows I went to in 08 including Sound and Fury, United Blood, the last Overdose show, Have Heart at the ICC Church, and Edge Day 2008. I’ll go ahead and say Edge Day was the best show of 2008. Edge Day had some of my favorite current hardcore bands including Step Forward, Waste Management, Have Heart, Free Spirit, No Tolerance, and Rampage. Not to mention I also got to hang with some of the Forfeit crew and Atlanta Straight Edge.

Looking through the triple b discography you have put out your fair share of records/tapes/cds, which one were you most excited about or anxious to put out?I’ve been pretty excited on all of my releases but I guess the Lie And Wait LPep and Foundation 7” win. The LAW LP especially since we silk-screened 105 of them with a cool skull/angel/demon thing and 65 with snowflakes for the winter tour. Those records definitely look the coolest. The Foundation 7” was also really exciting because I had been a big Foundation fan before they were on the label and it was also the first release I’ve every printed t-shirts for. Full color t-shirts, 2 awesome songs, and 3 insane vinyl color combos made releasing the 7” amazing.

TRIPLE B RECORDS - DISCOGRAPHYTBR 001: Free Spirit "Be Yourself" Demo TapeTBR 002: Earthquake/Gak Attack Split 7"TBR 003: Look Out- Unrestrained 7"TBR 004: Make or Break/Haunted Life split 7"TBR 005: OVERDOSE CDepTBR 006: Overdose/Lie and Wait split 7"TBR 007: Lie and Wait "Led Astray" LPTBR 008: Foundation "Never Stops Raining" 7"TBR 009: Lie and Wait "Awakening" 7"TBR 010: Soul Control - "Playing Coward" 7" TBR 011: The Rival Mob "DEMO" 7" split releaseTBR 012: DOWNPRESSER “Age of Ignorance” 7"epTBR 013: Wolf Whistle- Winter Demo 2009 + live WERS 7”TBR 014: Thought Crusade- It's Our War 7"TBR 015: Free Spirit- What Dreams May Come 7"

Website:http://triple-brecords.comhttp://myspace.com/triplebrecords