interview: Karl Hensel (Bridge 9)

Karl Hensel has a pretty good hardcore legacy built up already: former drummer of Holding On and Martyr AD, current label manager at Bridge 9 and one time I moshed him into a car door. Here's what Karl had to say about his run so far.


OK so lets start this off. You have a couple pretty serious bands under your belt man. Lets get a short description of your time with Holding On and Martyr AD.

Serious is a very loosely defined word. The short description of Holding On would be “fun” and the short description of Martyr AD would be “learning experience.” I also thought that it was more fun to be disrespected and not taken seriously by my friends while setting piles of money on fire, so I joined a band to give that dream a purpose.


Some people might not know that after Holding On and Martyr AD both broke up you did a band called The Holy Ghostriders. Tell me a little about that band for people not in the loop.

It was the anti-thesis of Martyr AD-we didn’t want to do anything serious and we wanted it to be completely fun and have punishing drinking problems that didn’t bother anyone. No other aspirations. Our first show, someone found out it was ex-Martyr AD members (three of us) and he was wearing a Throwdown shirt and overheard to say “I hope these guys kill it.” He was later seen really bummed out standing outside complaining we didn’t have any mosh at all during our 3rd song. We had a motto and a theme. The motto and theme was “we’re a good time party apocalypse” meaning after us, the party was dead forever. We lived up to that ethic sufficiently. We did play on a bowling alley once, but the details are a bit foggy.

The Holy Ghostriders

Which band had weirder shit happen on tour? And what was the craziest thing you remember?

Holding On had some pretty crazy shit happen, like fights at Panera bread and paying kids to jump naked into the Baltimore harbor. Then again- I remember getting kicked out over windmill cookies, playing in Slovenia and riding jet-skis in the Gulf of Mexico, so that’s pretty weird.


While we were in Europe with Martyr AD there was probably the worst beard growing contest in history. How does it feel to have been crowned the winner and how bummed was your girlfriend when you got home?

It felt mighty and I only kept it going because so many people told me to stop the insanity. See the picture attached. It looked like a beard from a distance, but up close, it looked like a 100% pervert.

fig. 1: out-bearding "Sad Chaz"

fig. 2: out-bearding NAMBLA

Now you're currently the label manager at Bridge 9. How did that one get hooked up?

Chris posted it on the B9 board. I called him up sick of my job and I was in Boston interviewing the next week. I had realized that I was probably going to have more fun doing that than living the 40 Year Old Virgin’s dream of making a living off of Ebay in a semi-corporate setting-so I went for it. (Karl used to manage an Ebay store... and has still never even seen boobs in his life.)


I would imagine being label manager is still kind of like being in a band except now instead of having to play with all the shitty local bands and see them live you have to hear their demos that get mailed in. Correct?

In all honesty, I listen to every single demo we get, but being an asshole and making shitty jokes sometimes wins out. Roadside Records is out of business, yes. But we now have Aurora AS1219CD Records and the sub-label, Shreddin Tunes, LTD, so things are good.

Aurora Electronics AS1219CD (Cross-Cut) Shredder

You had to move from Minneapolis out to Boston for that job. How much do you miss mock duck now? (for those who don't know, Minneapolis is the mock duck capitol of the world)

They have mock duck here. It’s called “fake duck” or “gluten.” It’s really weird. I miss the Triple Rock, Evergreen, and Grumpy’s more than my parents, and I think that’s kind of fucked up.


On more than one occasion you've fought a bush and lost. How much did that suck?

It was a tough match. Prior to that, I found myself with my arm around some New Jersey locals singing “Alison” by Elvis Costello and I was so enraged by their lack of key and timing, that plantlife had to watch out. I may have pee'd in a parking lot, too. (whoa peeing in a parking lot?! you rebel!)


Alright thanks a lot man. Any last words? Do you have any defense for your Against Me super-fandom?

I like bands that don’t suck, and when a band rules, I like them a lot more. It’s a very simple, objective definition. But to be fair, I think Alkaline Trio is more in the “super-fandom” category and the Hold Steady is creeping up behind them, but Against Me is in great company.


You can contact Karl at karl@bridge9.com. He would also probably be into it if you went to www.bridge9.com and took some Stand & Fight CD's off their hands.