Built to Break is one of the newest bands in the local hardcore space, but their debut release, CVHC DEMO ’25, gave the band instant local cred, as vocalists from other local hardcore bands were featured on every non-instrumental track. In the months since, Built to Break has packed venues with sweaty moshers ready to move their bodies and shout along. The band’s music and live performance were featured in an online ad campaign for the clothing brand Lurking Class, and Built to Break were recently signed to Irish Voodoo Records, who pressed their music on vinyl! Limited copies of the 7” are available at irishvoodoorecords.bandcamp.com. The band’s frontman is TJ Jackson.
What was the first concert you attended?
Tim McGraw, LOL. My cousin dragged me to it with her … but my first show was Madball and H2O in Los Angeles when I was 13ish.
What was the first album you owned?
Bad Religion, Stranger Than Fiction. That record absolutely changed my life.
What bands are you listening to right now?
Oh, man … my favorites right now are Combust, Cosmic Joke, Haywire, Dally, Stalemate, and STRUT, to name a few.
What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?
Slam … I do not understand whatsoever.
What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?
I’d loooooooove to see Mental. I never was able to see them, and it still makes me sad.
What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?
Newer country like Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers. Not really a guilty pleasure, per se, just a genre I never thought I’d ever be into.
What’s your favorite music venue?
SHOWCASE THEATRE (Corona) FOREVER.
What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?
This one’s waaaaay too hard. Literally anything from Title Fight is usually running through my head at any given moment through the day.
What band or artist changed your life? How?
Bad Religion is the absolute end-all, be-all band for me that changed everything. I bought their CD Stranger Than Fiction at a yard sale when I was, like, 11 or 12, and through them, found punk and hardcore and emo and pop punk, and that all absolutely informed who I am as a person today.
You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?
“Hey, Ned (Russin): When’s Title Fight coming back?!” LOL.
What song would you like played at your funeral?
“Dull” by one of my favorite bands, Samiam … or “Frown” by Title Fight.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
Bad Religion, Stranger Than Fiction.
What song should everyone listen to right now?
“Face to Face” by Stalemate.