All the way from the frozen wasteland known as Winnipeg, Canada comes one of the best new hardcore bands I've heard in a while. If you've never heard of Rogue Nation (who started up during the summer of this year), you're not alone…but this will soon change as they are bound to become a household name in the hardcore community. These Heavyweights are about to embark on their very first tour as RN, so remember to bring your helmet to the show cuz you will get hurt…and lock your freezer if you let them stay over. Seriously though, Rogue Nation is a great bunch of dudes who play music they all love: fast and heavy hardcore. Determined to take back hardcore from all those bands that are turning this into a pansy fashion show, RN are ready to get this shit done. Here's what happened when I decided to interview their bassist Mat (who can out-eat you, by the way) and their vocalist Omar X.

By: Mark Hamelin (AIM: xMARKinMTLx)

Mark: Hey whats up fellas. Lets start this shit by having you describe Rogue Nation's sound as well as Mat's average daily food intake…haha. How much do you weigh now, 250? Could you also briefly introduce the band members and describe previous band experience?

Mat: We have been compared to Madball and Integrity a lot. We all have different musical tastes, but in the end, we all love the heavy. For the record, at the time I write this I weigh in at 285 bitch!

-Mike our drummer used to play in figure four
-Ben our guitar player used to play in Reality's End
-Omar our singer used to sing in Intifada
-And Marc, our guitar player used to sing in a band called 9 to 5.

Omar: I'm really looking forward to going out to see y'all; meeting all sorts of new classic people. We just want to get our name out there and give it our all in our live shows. What can you expect for our performance??? A lot of intensity and a lot of Fat Mats ass in the crowd.

Mark: I took a look at the lyrics page on your site and was happy to see that your songs are angry as shit…just the way good hardcore is supposed to be. How do you feel about the state of hardcore at the moment? Are things the way they should be or are they getting better or worse? Discuss how you feel about Winnipeg HC as well as the entire North American HC scene as a whole.

Mat: Our songs are angry, but not fake. Omar is a very educated person (as well as fat) and he sings a lot about things that go on on this planet that aren't right (and sings about partying). We collectively feel that hardcore is heading down the shitter right now. There are not many bands out there that sound like real hardcore anymore. At this moment I think that bands like Northside Kings, Clenched Fist, Krutch, Ringworm and a few others still manage to put out some great hardcore. (Europe still kick's ass hardcore wise). I think North America is getting weak, everyone wants to be the next big band and that makes them stray further away from the hardcore aspect and go more towards trying to hit the radio.

Mark: So who are you gonna be on tour with in December anyway? Where is the tour gonna take you guys and describe what you expect from this. How much of the tour money is expected to be spent on food? And what can kids look forward to from a Rogue Nation performance? Can we expect you (Mat) to stage dive and take out 50% of the audience?

Mat: Well [Mark], the tour is in January, smart guy. And most of the shows are with XRADICAL ATTACKX and Bury Your Dead. One with 18 visions, and who knows who else for the rest. 99% of the money will be spent on general tao at the VIP [a Chinese restaurant]. And yes, I will jump.

Mark: The Rogue Nation demo was very impressive and definitely left me wanting to hear more. What has the general response been like, and have you started discussing future plans with record companies? What do you hope to accomplish within the next year?

Mat: We love the response we've been getting from people; everyone has been so supportive until now. We hope to sign up with a label and get a full length out and just keep touring.

Omar: People dig the demo. I've had all sorts of people (even those who don't listen to hardcore) come up to me and tell me its real good. I'm happy with the way it turned out. We're looking for a label right now with balls big enough to put out or record because I can guarantee our next release will be a) heavy as fuck, and b) a lot better then our demo. We have set a pretty high standard for ourselves (being a new band). We want to tour the east and the west coast in the next year and put out a record. Mostly, I just wanna have fun. I'm in a band with 4 of the most classic guys in the world and its never a burden to jam or do stuff for this band.

Mark: If you could be in any band for a day, which band would you be in and what would you do? Would coke and whores be part of the experience? Would you use the band's power and wealth to have any person or bands assassinated?

Mat: I would be Andrew W.K. I would party for 24 hours straight and then just burn. I'll take the whores; I'll leave the coke for Omar.

Omar: I think I would have to be in Mercyful Fate cause they are, by far, the coolest band to grace planet earth. Then I could grow a mullet and hang out with king diamond all day and ask him questions and hang out at his castle…fuck yeah its all about Mercyful Fate. I'm not a big fan of whores…unless they were midgets, then id hang out with them. But the coke…hmm probably not. There's nothing worse then a bunch of cokeheads.

Who would I have assassinated? You're asking the wrong guy this question. I'd have a list of people wacked if I could…starting with George W. Bush and DICK Cheney for putting us in this mess of a world that we're in. Ariel Sharon would be next on the list cause he a disgusting fat fuck of a war criminal. Ralph Klein, the Premier of Alberta, would be next cause he's a fucking redneck prick that just happens to like to pollute our air with Alberta Oil. Probably Michael Eisner, Steven Speilberg for polluting our childrens minds, Pat Buchannan The reverend Jerry Fawell, The list of vampires goes on and on…there's a lot of people out there that need to be sleeping with the fishes.

Mark: Mat, you used to live here in Montreal…how would you describe the difference between this city and your new home in Winnipeg? What do you miss the most about MTL in terms of Hardcore? I think you told me they don't have general tao chicken over there…dude you live in fucking hell.

Mat: Montreal is just non-stop, it rules, always a show, if no show then we are out eating. Dave is the fuckin' king. Yea there is no general tao here. I think they still allow slavery too. Winnipeg is different, a lot of hardcore kids for the size of it, fun times, but its so hard to get bands out here.

Mark: Where do you see Rogue Nation in 5 years? Should we expect to hear about RN for years and watch them play live on MTV and get picked up by a major label? Does your current line-up seem strong enough to ensure that you don't go the same way as 90% of today's hardcore bands: broken up within the first year?

Mat: 5 years from now we will be doing our reunion tour in Asia on a bus filled with 14-year-old whores and enough blow to knock out an elephant.

Omar: In 5 years, we should have a couple records out and some tours. Hopefully we get signed to aftermath records so we can have Dre produce our record and have snoop in our video. Maybe we'll win a MTV music award and try to pick up atomic kitten at the award show.... who knows what's gonna happen in 5 years. One thing is guaranteed: RxN will be around for a while because everyone in the band is pretty tight and understands their role. No ego shit, and hopefully nothing sketchy happens to our band. We'll keep on writing heavy shit.

Mark: Who would win these fights?

Cold as life VS. Fury of Five

Mat: I'm not answering, I wanna live

Rogue Nation VS Figure Four

Mat: Rogue nation

Fred Optimus VS a 5 year old girl (just kidding Fred)

Mat: The girl after screaming rape

Mark: If everything you could ever do was legal, what would you incorporate into a Rogue Nation show?

Mat: Fuckin' cannons, dead hookers, your mom, your aunt and a double dong.

Omar: lots of weed smoking on stage… dancing midgets, cannon fire, girls with spikes, naked Asian guys running around and shitting everywhere… man it be a crazy ass show.

Mark: If you could mosh so hard that you'd actually die, which bands would have to be playing for this to actually happen?

Mat: Madball, Hatebreed, Andrew W.K, fury of five

Omar: I think that would only happen if I saw INTEGRITY, EXODUS, RAZOR and SACRIFICE on the same bill. Integrity would play first and Id mosh the shit out of mop head hardcore kids… I'd kick and punch my way to a sing along and bring out back-kicks. Then Exodus would go on stage and I would lose about 10 pounds from thrashing so fucking hard, but that would be a warm up because RAZOR (if you don't know who they are, get a thrash education) would come up next and all hell would break loose. They'd start the set with the song "Instant death"… and I would run around like a crazy Indian chasing some redneck cowboy with and axe. During the set I would just thrash my way through the crowd and slam like I never slammed before. SACRIFICE (also if you don't know who they are, get a thrash metal education!) would come up on stage and open up with the song "Reanimation". Id be up front head banging so fucking hard man, that during the 4th or 5th song my head would just fly off right into the drummers bass drum… that's the way I want to go out.

Mark: Alright guys, this interview has been pretty rad. Any final words and/or shoutouts?

Mat: Thanks to Jeff and QCHC.COM, The Bouch (the real one) and everyone who has helped out so far. We appreciate everything. Shout outs to McDonalds, KFC, and the VIP.

Omar: Thanx Mark for doing this interview. Everyone in the world watch out: RxN is unleashed and we're invading your town in the near future. Keep it irie [peaceful].

Contact Rogue Nation and buy their demo:

Rogue Nation
135 Kirlystone way
Winnipeg, MB
R2G 3B6
Canada