Radio - Sunday, May 10th, 2020

DIRECT ACTION were one of the most important hardcore bands to come out of Toronto. They inspired almost everybody in that early scene. Everyone we spoke to had a story about DIRECT ACTION. People talked about how loud they were, how heavy they were and how righteous they were from a political standpoint. They encompassed everything from sound to lyrics to looks. They were everything. DIRECT ACTION were Toronto's answer to DISCHARGE except they wrote songs that expressed themselves in songs longer than a haiku. DIRECT ACTION released a demo and an LP. Their tape was booted after they broke up and has been officially released by Schizophrenic Records. We spoke to Dave, Buzz and Mike (Three guys on the right in the picture above) three years back for the making of the book, "Tomorrow is Too Late". You can listen to this interview on the player above or download the show to listen on a device here. 

DIRECT ACTION - Direct Action (Schizophrenic)
DIRECT ACTION - Interview (CIUT)
THE UNKNOWNS - Teenage Terrorist (Punk History Canada / Stumble)
DIRECT ACTION - Interview (CIUT)
DIRECT ACTION - P.C.P. (Schizophrenic)
DIRECT ACTION - Interview (CIUT)
DIRECT ACTION - I Like Speed (Schizophrenic)

DIRECT ACTION - Interview (CIUT)

DIRECT ACTION - U.X.B. (NRK)

DIRECT ACTION - Interview (CIUT)

DIRECT ACTION - Angels of Death (Schizophrenic)
DIRECT ACTION - Interview (CIUT)

DIRECT ACTION - 19 A.D. 4 (Schizophrenic)

DIRECT ACTION - Liberty (Schizophrenic)

DIRECT ACTION - Interview (CIUT)
DIRECT ACTION - Living Dead (Schizophrenic)
DIRECT ACTION - Interview (CIUT)
DIRECT ACTION - Hate Generation (Schizophrenic)
DIRECT ACTION - Interview (CIUT)
DIRECT ACTION - Trapped in a World (Schizoprhenic)
DIRECT ACTION - Interview (CIUT)
DIRECT ACTION - One Tin Soldier (Schizophrenic)
DIRECT ACTION - Interview (CIUT)
DIRECT ACTION - Tomorrow is Too Late (Schizoprhenic)

Thanks to Derek Emerson for helping with the coordination and interjecting with important questions that were getting skipped over AND Shawn Chirrey for the sound engineering and real time fact checking while the interview was in progress. And then the hours of de-briefs while we tried to make sense out of what we just learned. Thanks to Darrin for sharing the photo above. 

References:

• A Number of flyers and reviews used for this interview have been posted on our facebook acount under a photo album called "Direct Action";
• Direct Action "Tomorrow is Too Late - 1984 Tape" LP.